OK, but Seriously, Is ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Actually Too Scary for Kids?

So, director Sam Raimi came to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and brought his Evil Dead tricks along for the ride—meaning that if you go into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and expect Raimi’s Spider-Man vibe, you’ll be shocked by how different it is, and also how scary he makes the second film for Stephen Strange.

But with a series that has been relatively tame in regards to the gore and the violence, Multiverse of Madness is definitely a change of pace for Marvel’s franchise as a whole. So, what does that mean for kids?

Apparently, the movie is frightening enough that kids are crying and being escorted out of the theater.

So, not to get into spoilers, but let me try to answer this question to the best of my ability.

Can you take your kid?

The thing is: I watched The Evil Dead movies as a kid. So I might be a bad judge, but I didn’t think it was that scary. There are gory moments, and there’s obviously some deaths that are pretty gnarly, but in all, I don’t think it’s that frightening. But again, I was obsessed with Army of Darkness as a 6-year-old, so I’m probably not the best judge for what kids should and shouldn’t watch.

But for me, the movie wasn’t necessarily scary as it was gory, and the scary moments that do exist are more of a jump scare than anything, and then it moves on pretty quickly. But if your child isn’t used to any kind of horror, it might be one you wait on and just have them watch it with you in the confines of your home. Not that kids can’t (or shouldn’t) see this movie. It’s more that you’re going to end up missing stuff if your kid does get scared and wants to leave. So why waste that money when you can just see it in theaters alone and then watch at home later with them, where they can easily skip the scariest parts?

So whether or not these stories are true, the reality is that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a Sam Raimi horror movie at its core, and that means you have to decide whether or not your kid is weird like me and loves this stuff or is too young to handle it.

(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)