For a long time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has resembled a global mystery cult that inspires fierce devotion among its acolytes and leaves outsiders bamboozled. While I was watching Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, trying to make sense of the kaleidoscopic swirl of images being thrown onto the screen, the person sitting next to me was making gasping noises, occasionally whispering “Yes! Yes!” or “Noooo!”

To me, this reaction was almost as mysterious as the plot. Could anyone actually respond with empathy and emotion to the characters in a superhero flick? These movies spend far more time on CGI-laden thrills than dialogue or characterisation. Then there’s the problem of the costumes. After having examined these outfits up close, in the Marvel exhibition held at Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art in 2017, I can never see anything but plastic and cheap stretchy fabric.