I saw a Marvel movie 100 times, in honour of Stan Lee, to help cope with my mother's death

Often when people talk about going to the movies, they often think of seeing a movie only once- maybe a few times at most, but even there it's a rare occurance. If someone sees a movie multiple times, it's usually because they a) have an unhealthy obsession, or b) want to break a world record, like a certain blogger who saw Avengers: Endgame 137 times. Needless to say, while I've yet to break a world record for movie-viewing (the current hold is 237 times for Avengers: Endgame, dwarfing the blogger in question!) That's an awful lot of times for a 3-hour movie), nevertheless, I've actually attempted seeing a Marvel movie 100 times. Seriously.

Now, last year was a special one for the Marvel Universe. It was Stan Lee's centennial, and I wanted to do something special. I was already doing a lot for said centennial (making a blog where I reviewed his movies, a video tribute to "100 Years" by Five for Fighting) but I wanted to do something unique. I knew that "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" would be released that year-technically it was slated to be released in 2021, but COVID-19 got in the way- and I planned to see it 100 times, either in the theatre or, failing that, on Disney+. Despite (or perhaps partly because of, considering that his adventures were relatively hard to come by) he's one of my favorite superheroes. Basically, he's Batman meets Harry Potter by way of Doctor Who! And he's played by stud muffin Benedict Cumberbatch! What's not to love! (Seriously, I'm even Twitter buddies with the guy who wrote "Dr. Strange" himself, just because I wondered what insurance he took.)

Another reason I was so bent on my goal, was because I had just lost my mother to cancer, earlier that year, right before the New Year. I felt as though I couldn't "find myself" in a world, that was falling apart all around me, completely out of the blue- I had also lost my job and a residential place I was living at. However, whenever I saw my heroes on screen, I could be reassured that eventually, everything would be alright in the end. Dr. Stephen Strange would save the multiverse from a certain evil sorceress, America Chavez would start training in the Ancient Arts, and the good doctor would eventually get his watch fixed.

Was it always easy? Not necessarily. Sometimes I had difficulty planning when (or later on, where) I was going to the theatre, considering I had other activities with friends. Sometimes, the horrors of reality got in the way, and I blamed the negative things that happened to me on my own foolish decisions. Also, sometimes the movie was kinda boring. (One guy I met even called it "underwhelming.") Needless to say, by the time that the film finally left theaters in mid-July 2022, I was only 51 viewings shy of my dear goal.

Instead of getting upset or acting as though my life was over- which I have done in the past when I didn't get my way- I decided to see the two other Marvel movies in theatres, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever- to help reach my goal. I must admit, they were both pretty entertaining on their own merits, often in some ways more than Dr. Strange itself!

Did I quite get what I expected? No. Was it a bad thing? Absolutely not! Even if the repetition of multiple viewings was a great comfort to me, I was flexible enough to see other Marvel films in theaters as well. After all, the characters all have fantastic stories (even if they're not Reed Richards or his friends) and Thor and Black Panther were hardly any different. To fill up the 1oo-movie quota, I often saw both movies multiple times, being mesmerized at Jane Foster going from delicately sick cancer patient to lightning-themed powerhouse and Shuri overcoming the death of her brother to cancer as well as another family member. (No spoilers here!) if only because it harkened back memories of my own dear mother. (Seriously, my mother could've been Jane Foster, what with her research work in science, deep concern for others, determination to beat cancer against all odds. I guess that makes Dad Thor and me the little girl he adopts at the end?)

Sometimes, all you need to get through in life is a good movie showing....literally a hundred times! Even if life doesn't always give you what you want, you can always count on fictional worlds to bring you great comfort in times of need. Happy 100th birthday Stan, wherever you are. Thanks for giving all of us a marvelous universe full of action-packed adventures, witty one-liners, and amazing characters we can all relate to. Exclesior!