By the end of the original Disney+ series WandaVision, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans became well aware of the evil book known as the Darkhold. First possessed by the witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) and then Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), it’s an ancient text that contains powerfully dangerous, dark magic, and it has a corrupting force on those who read it.
Audiences will have the opportunity to learn a bit more about the malevolent tome this week in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, as it has a significant role to play in the plot of the upcoming blockbuster – but what you may not know about it is that it has a key connection to another major franchise from director Sam Raimi. According to the filmmaker, there is a direct relationship between the Darkhold and the Necronomicon – the evil book at the center of all things bad in the Evil Dead movies.
I picked up this fun bit of trivia this past weekend when I had the chance to interview Sam Raimi during the Los Angeles press day for his upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. After asking the director about why Doctor Strange still wears the Eye of Agamotto (despite the fact that it no longer contains the Time Stone), I asked if he personally sees a link between the Darkhold in the MCU and the Necronomicon from Evil Dead, and he responded in the affirmative:
Yes, I do. There's always those evil books in these stories. And that's just another bad one of those books.
For those of you not familiar with the Evil Dead movies, the Necronomicon (or The Book of the Dead) is an ancient grimoire that is penned in human blood and bound in human flesh. In the original The Evil Dead from 1981, a group of college students come across it while spending a vacation in a cabin in the woods, and after reading from it they unleash a malicious energy that begins to possess and destroy them. The Necronomicon has been featured in all of the Evil Dead movies – including The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and Evil Dead – and is also featured in the television series Ash vs. Evil Dead starring Bruce Campbell.
So how does it link to the Darkhold? The simple answer is “the multiverse.” An infinite number of realities means that there is an infinite number of books that are pure evil. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that book is named the Darkhold; in the Evil Dead universe, that book is called The Necronomicon.
It’s all part of the craziness in the sci-fi concept at the heart of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, and audiences will be able to experience the full breadth of it in just a few days. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez, and more, the new MCU film will be in theaters this Friday, May 6, and critics are buzzing about it as a wild ride.
Our Upcoming Marvel Movies guide will help you keep track of all of the blockbusters from the franchise on the way after Doctor Strange 2, and you can find out about all of the films heading to theaters and streaming in what remains of the year via our 2022 Movie Release Calendar.
