The following contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, now playing in theaters.

Across almost 30 films and multiple television shows, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has found a way to meld the superhero genre with plenty of other styles, ranging from the spy thriller of Captain America: The Winter Soldier to the gonzo space opera that are the Guardians of the Galaxy films to the low-key philosophical drama of Black Panther. But as the films have gone along, they've increasingly circled horror without fully embracing it -- until now. The MCU finally embodies horror in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness -- with one sequence, in particular, being darker than anything that's happened in the franchise up to this point.

The MCU hasn't fully embraced horror as a genre -- although it has flirted with it at times. Trippy sequences in films like Spider-Man: Far From Home and Doctor Strange hinted at the lengths the universe could go, and shows like WandaVision and the zombies of What If...? proved horror could work as a backdrop for superhero stories -- both the surreal and the visceral. But Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness fully commits to that tone, especially once Wanda Maximoff doubles down on her furious side and goes on a multi-reality rampage. By the end of her assault on Kamar-Taj, Scarlet Witch has contorted her body into unnatural poses and reduced some sorcerers to ash. But it's nothing compared to her full rampage on Earth-838.

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness fanmade poster header

The reality is home to the Illuminati, a collection of heroes who'd seemingly replaced their world's Avengers as Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Having defeated Thanos in their timeline, the group was convinced they could easily handle Wanda. But when the Scarlet Witch arrived, she quickly showcased just how deadly and dangerous she could be when unleashed. Using her powers, Wanda quickly erased Black Bolt's mouth (meaning his scream backfired and destroyed his skull) while she untangled Reed Richards' elastic body and popped his head as an afterthought. While a variant of Captain Carter and Charles Xavier do their best to handle her, Scarlet Witch simply cleaves the former in half with her own shield while snapping the neck of the latter. Captain Marvel came the closest to matching Scarlet Witch in terms of raw power, but even then Wanda gained a victory -- crushing her underneath a massive statue.

Notably, all of these deaths occurred on-screen, showing a willingness to tackle the dark subject matter head-on. While they lacked a lot of gore, there was still a genuinely horrifying element to them -- especially for Black Bolt, whose head seemed to collapse upon itself after his accidental death. The heroes didn't die heroically, they died suddenly -- and in Mister Fantastic's case, screaming. With the heroes of this world decimated, Doctor Strange, America Chavez, and the Earth-838 Christine Palmer have little recourse than to just straight run from Wanda.

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Scarlet Witch might turn on Doctor Strange

The sequence turns Wanda, nominally an Avenger and formerly a hero, into a genuine movie monster. By this point, she's become an unstoppable force, a reality-warper willing to kill hundreds if it restores her family to her. The sequence is specifically shot like a horror film, with a handful of effective jump scares and a truly frightening design for the demented Wanda.

There's been little in the superhero genre that can match the sheer scares of Doctor Strange's latest outing as a whole, with plenty of unsettling imagery being peppered throughout Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But it's this sequence, with Wanda chasing after the heroes despite their best efforts and leaving behind dismembered corpses in her wake, that truly stands out for its inherent horror. It's such a dark turn that Strange piloting the corpse of his variant self, using a cloak made from the disembodied spirits of the damned, pales in comparison. Wanda's slaughter of the Illuminati is by far the most violent, brutal, and terrifying sequence in the franchise up to this point.

To witness the MCU's most gruesome sequence to date, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters.