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Warning! Spoilers ahead for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Which of the two multiversal MCU movies is better, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or Spider-Man: No Way Home? After Loki signaled the beginning of the multiversal era of the MCU, everything is possible. From the introduction of variants of popular characters to the return of beloved actors from previous franchises, the concept of alternate universes allows for endless creative possibilities — and at the center lie Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, two Marvel heroes with a rich history of interdimensional battles.

Doctor Strange’s vast power and knowledge allow him to understand the dangers of the multiverse more than anybody, which makes him the most appropriate lead for the multiversal saga of the MCU. Spider-Man has come in contact with the multiverse several times across comics, animated shows, and even animated movies, though it seems that Spider-Man: No Way Home concluded Peter Parker’s interactions with alternate realities. Still, the possibility of an encounter between Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Tom Hardy’s Venom or the eventual return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men are possibilities that can’t be disregarded yet.

Both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home are key to the MCU’s development of the multiverse. But which movie worked better as a chapter in this saga as well as a standalone movie? Here’s how Doctor Strange and Spider-Man’s multiversal adventures compare.

Doctor Strange Features More Alternate Universes Than Spider-Man

Peter Parker caused Doctor Strange’s memory-wiping spell to bring in seven characters from across the multiverse, but Spider-Man: No Way Home took place solely in the MCU’s main reality. Those seven characters belong to two different franchises: Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man came with Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Sandman, and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man came with the Lizard and Electro. However, each character may have been pulled from a slightly different universe, given that removing one of them alters the events that lead to the introduction of the other. Still, the variety of alternate universes in Spider-Man: No Way Home is limited.

Appropriately, Multiverse of Madness visits more universes, and it actually shows what those alternate realities look like. The Earth-838 universe where the Illuminati live hints at a vast and complex history that’s wildly different from the main MCU — one where the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Illuminati have replaced the Avengers, including for the Battle of Titan. Sinister Strange lives in a destroyed universe that hints at a tragic defeat for him and the Avengers, while the variant that Scarlet Witch possesses lives a happy life with her twin sons, but not Vision or Quicksilver, apparently. On the other hand, Defender Strange’s home reality remains a complete mystery.

Doctor Strange and America Chavez’s short trip through the multiverse prior to arriving at the Illuminati’s headquarters also provides small peeks at many different universes, including shiny utopias, prehistoric lands, a reality made of paint, and the Living Tribunal’s home. In short, there’s a stronger sense of infinity in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Since Doctor Strange is the protector of reality, his movie always had the upper hand in regards to multiversal possibilities.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Makes Better Use of Multiversal Characters

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness continues to push the limits of what the MCU can do. The movie not only introduces John Krasinski’s Mister Fantastic, Charles Xavier/Professor X, Captain Carter, Black Bolt, and Maria Rambeau’s Captain Marvel to the live-action MCU but also reveals that they defeated Thanos with the help of their universe’s Doctor Strange. The appearance of the Ultron Bots at the Illuminati headquarters also suggests that Iron Man’s ambitious plans succeeded in this universe. Putting the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Illuminati together in one movie would have seemed impossible just a few years ago, but now it’s only a taste of what future MCU installments can bring to the table.

Conversely, the multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home only serves the purpose of bringing back the necessary characters without delving too much into the logical consequences. However, this is not a flaw, as the multiverse really isn’t the crux of No Way Home‘s story, but a tool that allows every character to experience a shared journey. The multiversal Spider-Men and the villains of No Way Home are well-developed characters with an arc of their own. From Electro to Doctor Octopus to MJ and the three Spider-Men, every character received a well-deserved sendoff that was many years in the making.

In contrast, the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are depicted as cannon fodder for Scarlet Witch to cut through. The different Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch variants are ultimately victims of their prime counterparts’ conflict, as they aren’t able to do anything to defend themselves. This leaves America Chavez and Christine Palmer as the only multiversal characters in Multiverse of Madness to have a character arc, or at least some sort of agency over their own fate.

Multiverse of Madness Is More Visually Striking Than No Way Home

Back in 2016, the first Doctor Strange movie shook up the MCU with mind-bending visuals that proved the potential of powerful types of MCU magic on the big screen. Since then, the MCU has only upped the ante, allowing director Sam Raimi to use his signature style without limits. Even before the movie dives deep into the craziness of the multiverse, Raimi’s love for dynamic camera movements and exaggerated camera angles shines during Doctor Strange’s fight with Gargantos, which makes the scene stand out as an unapologetically dynamic display of physics-breaking action few other MCU movies have pulled off.

Another quality of Sam Raimi’s style is his talent for horror. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness might be the MCU movie with the most terrifying moments mostly due Scarlet Witch’s villain role as a pure horror antagonist, along with the sheer brutality of the Illuminati’s deaths and the creepy aesthetics of elements like the souls of the damned that the zombified Doctor Strange uses in the final battle. Spider-Man: No Way Home is by far the most visually striking Spider-Man installment in the MCU, with standout scenes like J. Jonah Jameson’s speech after Aunt May’s death and Spider-Man’s final battle with Green Goblin on top of Captain America’s shield. Still, the visuals are where Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had the biggest advantage from the get-go, and the finished products haven’t changed that advantage.

No Way Home Has A Bigger Impact On Spider-Man Than Multiverse of Madness On Doctor Strange

Several years after breaking up with Christine Palmer, Stephen Strange finally acknowledges his feelings and makes peace with the idea of not being with her in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Corrupted by the Darkhold, Scarlet Witch has become a villain, and the murders of the Illuminati make it impossible, or at least extremely difficult, for her to redeem herself. Those are significant steps in their character arcs, but they don’t come close to the evolution of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and the rest of the characters in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

In No Way Home, Peter Parker experiences both the end of an era and the beginning of a new journey. The traumatic death of Aunt May, the departure of his friends, and the erasure of his identity all warrant that nothing will ever be the same in Peter’s life. But at the same time, Peter becomes a new person, having matured both as a young man and a superhero, and understanding that being a hero is a serious matter that he will have to take on all by himself in Spider-Man’s next MCU trilogy. His multiversal variants and villains teach him a variety of lessons such as learning who to trust and when to forgive.

Spider-Man: No Way Home manages to make drastic changes not only to Spider-Man but also to his multiversal variants, their multiple villains, and even Doctor Strange himself, whereas Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness presents a rather simple character arc for Strange, Scarlet Witch, and America Chavez. Besides a new life for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man gained redemption by saving MJ, Doctor Strange proved himself to be a good mentor for the first time, and all the Spider-Man villains received a cure for the ailments that made them monsters. In Multiverse of Madness, Doctor Strange only becomes a little less controlling, Scarlet Witch once again falls to the dark side — and makes a sacrifice at the very last moment — and America Chavez learns to believe in herself.

Multiverse of Madness Has A Bigger Impact on the MCU Than No Way Home

Although Spider-Man’s mistake almost ends up bringing an infinite number of multiversal visitors to the MCU, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a mostly self-contained story. There are no other Avengers involved in the conflict besides Doctor Strange, and surprisingly, there are no tie-ins to Loki or What If…?, or any major repercussions on the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The only major impact on the multiverse No Way Home had may be an eventual crossover with Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, judging by the post-credits scene involving Venom and Vulture’s appearance in Morbius. But overall, Spider-Man’s multiversal story was opened and closed within the same movie.

On the contrary, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch manage to cause chaos across multiple universes. The Illuminati’s home reality will probably be in shambles when word gets out that they have been brutally murdered by a possessed Wanda Maximoff, with the version in that universe potentially being persecuted by the authorities and her own guilt despite being a victim of her Earth-616 counterpart. In fact, it’s possible that this will cause her to lose the perfect life that the main Scarlet Witch so envied. At least two universes have lost their Doctor Strange, and America Chavez’s multiversal powers now open a door to endless realities in the future. Most importantly, the introduction of multiversal incursions in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will undoubtedly be key to the MCU at some point. It’s possible that they will cause entire universes to collapse on each other and bring the eventual end of the whole MCU multiverse.

Is Multiverse of Madness A Better Multiversal Movie Than No Way Home?

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home can’t be judged with the exact same parameters, as they are different stories with different goals that cause them to have different strengths and weaknesses. No Way Home ended Spider-Man’s first MCU trilogy with a love letter to past and present movies, and it had two decades’ worth of history to support it. Multiverse of Madness was always more of an MCU event, aided by the visual spectacle of Sam Raimi’s directorial style.

But overall, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness underdelivers, as it doesn’t do enough to evolve its main characters and falls short of the multiversal madness that the title promised. Spider-Man: No Way Home juggled multiple characters from different universes and connected three different franchises through a heartfelt story that pushed Spider-Man into a whole new era of cinematic adventures. Unfortunately, Doctor Strange’s big showdown against the Scarlet Witch is too rushed to achieve that, though it does set up high expectations for what comes next for Strange and the MCU as a whole.