‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ introduces a new hero and his name is Pizza Poppa.
There are plenty of cameo inDoctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness , let in some that will enkindle copiousfeelingsfrom the great unwashed who have spent years compulsively thinking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe . But there is only one new character put in that actually matters . His name is Pizza Poppa . And Pizza Poppa always gets paid .
Who is Pizza Poppa ? Pizza Poppa is a purveyor of pizza balls on Earth-838 , one of the parallel universes Stephen Strange ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) and his unexampled acolyte America Chavez ( Xochtil Gomez ) visit . Most importantly , Pizza Poppa is portrayed by Bruce Campbell .
The first 40 minutes of this latestDoctor Strangeouting are oddly lustreless , but the action clicks into gear when Pizza Poppa shows up , because Pizza Poppa lets you know that you are really in a Sam Raimi movie . As my colleagueEmma Stefansky wrote in her revaluation , the sledding get good when Raimi starts to root for out the old tricks from his tool cabinet — the askew angles and jump scares that made hisEvil Deadtrilogy a classic . And who is the star of thoseEvil Deadmovies ? Why none other than Bruce Campbell .
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Campbell was Raimi ’s puerility booster who became his revulsion protagonist avatar when he run Ash Williams inThe Evil Dead , Evil Dead II , andArmy of Darkness . Over the trend of the three picture show , pursued by countless Deadites , Campbell perfected his persona : A human cartoon with bravado to spare who can take hits like Wile E. Coyote . Pizza Poppa capitalize on this trait .
When unusual and America land in this universe , America quickily seeks out some food , in the phase of a concoction known as " pizza balls . " ( Think : Garlic knots covered with cheese and pepperoni . They look pretty tasty . ) America wrongly assumes that these kickshaw are free , since intellectual nourishment in most worlds are , apparently . Not so . Pizza Poppa always gets pay . Except here he does n’t .
foreign , using his illusion , turns Pizza Poppa on himself , making him squirt table mustard on his human face , and plug himself slaphappy . And while we do n’t excuse this — Pizza Poppa deserves his money!—it ’s exactly the kind ofThree Stooges - inspired fabric that we want when Raimi and Campbell get together . Give me a half an hr of it . Make it like the sequence inArmy of DarknesswhereCampbell has to fight a bunch of mini - ME .
Raimi has a tradition of dumbfound his muse in his superhero expedition . Campbell appeared in all three of Raimi’sSpider - Manin various roles as thorn in Peter Parker ’s side . In the first moving-picture show , he ’s the wrestling announcer who thinks " the Human Spider " is a stupid name . In thesecond , he ’s the usher who wo n’t let Peter into Mary Jane ’s frolic . Finally , in thethird , he ’s a snooty French maitre d. All these men , as well as Pizza Poppa , subsist to be pain in the neck in the tooshie for our hero sandwich . While these superheroes may face world ending threats , Campbell is there to serve as the more mundane kind of obstruction .
Now thatTobey Maguire ’s Spideysort of exists in the MCU , could you make the case that all these Bruce Campbell character do inadditionto Pizza Poppa . Sure ! But that ’s not really the point here . The degree is that Pizza Poppa ALWAYS GETS PAID . Thank goodness for Pizza Poppa .
