We’ve gone more than a month without a new Marvel film, believe it or not. “Morbius” premiered on April 1st, while “Thor: Love And Thunder” won’t hit theatres until July. However, there will be some fan service this weekend. “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” according to reviewer Bob Mondello.

BYLINE: BOB MONDELLO Doctor Stephen Strange is at a wedding shortly after the opening credits, putting on a brave face as his beloved Christine marries someone else. Then, maybe to his relief, more typical Marvel-style daring is required on the streets of Lower Manhattan.

A one-eyed octopus that looks like it might have escaped from Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” if it weren’t the size of a sizable apartment complex, appears to be bent on devouring a bus. Strange swiftly sees it’s trying to devour a teenaged girl on the bus and, with a lot of flexing of wrists and the help of Sorcerer Supreme Wong, puts an end to it.

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Look out, XOCHITL GOMEZ (as America Chavez).

MONDELLO: Strange recognises the girl after she has been rescued. Wasn’t she the night before in his dream? She assures him that it was not a dream, that he was in another dimension as a less trustworthy Doctor Strange.

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(As Stephen Strange) BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: Things have gotten out of hand.

MONDELLO: A multiverse traveller being pursued by a demon, the girl’s name is America Chavez, which means people will be repeating things like, “We have to save America,” and “Is America OK?” for the remainder of the movie – but never mind. The movie has larger fish to fry, like that octopus. So Strange, in need of assistance, approaches to an old friend…

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CUMBERBATCH: Wanda. (As Stephen Strange)

MONDELLO:…a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch.

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ELIZABETH OLSEN: (As Wanda Maximoff) I knew you’d show up sooner or later.

CUMBERBATCH: I need your aid, Stephen Strange.

OLSEN: With what, Wanda Maximoff?

CUMBERBATCH: What do you know about the multiverse? (As Stephen Strange)

MONDELLO: Now that I’ve seen last month’s insanely innovative “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” I know a little bit about the multiverse and how it provides you different versions of yourself. That wasn’t exactly excellent practise for Marvel’s multiverse, partly because it was planned out, whereas Marvel’s tries hard to appear random, and partly because Marvel’s is controlled by a separate set of laws, in addition to the more mundane ones that have always bothered Wanda.

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OLSEN: (As Wanda Maximoff) You defy the odds and triumph. When I do that, I become the adversary. That doesn’t seem reasonable.

MONDELLO: Regardless, she gets to act while the others are soaring past a block-iverse (ph) and a paint-iverse (ph) en route to a flower-bedecked New York-iverse (ph). After seeing Wanda wreck havoc in a hall of mirrors, there are even end credits for a splinter unit, which makes sense. Everything that can be done with actors gesticulating in front of screens has been done.

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CUMBERBATCH: You OK? (As Stephen Strange)

MONDELLO: Director Sam Raimi, who got his start with the “Evil Dead” trilogy before branching out with the first three “Spider-Man” pictures, will unleash his inner horror freak towards the conclusion of the film.

After the filmmaker has dispensed with a full hour or so of explaining things, corpses and wispy black smoke wraiths will go toe-to-toe with the lightning bolt-tossing heroic types.

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CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) The multiverse is a disturbingly unexplored idea.

MONDELLO: This is especially true when it comes to the darkhold, the Book of Vishanti, and the differences between sorcery and witchcraft. I’ll leave it to you to sort through them. What about the excellent physician?

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CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) None of this was my intention.

After the filmmaker has dispensed with a full hour or so of explaining things, corpses and wispy black smoke wraiths will go toe-to-toe with the lightning bolt-tossing heroic types.

(THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS SOUNDBITE)

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) The multiverse is a disturbingly unexplored idea.

MONDELLO: This is especially true when it comes to the darkhold, the Book of Vishanti, and the differences between sorcery and witchcraft. I’ll leave it to you to sort through them. What about the excellent physician?

(THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS SOUNDBITE)

CUMBERBATCH: (As Stephen Strange) None of this was my intention.

MONDELLO: Dr. Strange-love, if you’ll excuse the word, appears restricted in comparison to the unfettered affection that viewers have for, say, Spider-Man. Not that Benedict Cumberbatch isn’t dedicated; he moves his fingers an inch or two while digital sparks fly with far more ferocity than you’d expect. However, his writings have thus far felt like filler in the Marvel continuity. And the writing for “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” which is without a doubt the most entertaining multiverse film of the month, is no exception. Bob Mondello here.