Warning: possible spoilers for Doctor Strange are ahead!
Stephen Strange's debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this fall is, of course, also including a few of his adversaries from the comics. We've known for a while that Mads Mikkelsen will be playing Doctor Strange's main antagonist, Kaecilius, one of the Ancient One's former followers. Then there's Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo, who, although an ally in this movie, could follow in his comic book counterpart's footsteps and become Stephen's arch-nemesis in the future. Now there's a possible hint of an even bigger villain (figuratively and literally) appearing who fans have speculated about, but has never been officially confirmed: Dormammu.
Following the report that Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon is writing some scenes for Doctor Strange, Reddit user "Bifrost51" went back to watch the San Diego Comic-Con episode of the Harmontown podcast. One of the moments showed a list of document on Harmon's computer, and one of the files was named "Strange Confronts Dormammu." Keep in mind that this by no means official. Assuming the screenshot is real, it could just be Harmon screwing around with everyone watching. Maybe he just gave a document that title to throw fans off track about what's really happening. However, if this document is the real deal, this means that Dormammu has been secretly been set up as major threat in Doctor Strange. To what extent remains to be seen.
Dormammu is without a doubt Doctor Strange's most powerful recurring enemy in the comics. Thanks to Strange helping Dormammu in their first encounter when his minions, the Mindless Ones, went out of control, the ruler of the Dark Dimension agreed never to enter the "Earth realm" again. Unfortunately, even with that restriction, Dormammu hasn't stopped trying to invade our plane of existence in other ways. There could be a similar setup in Doctor Strange, as some have speculated that the weird blackening around Kaecilius' eyes might be a sign of Dormammu's influence or possession over him. Perhaps in order to accomplish his goals, Kaecilius has resorted to harnessing some kind of dark magic, i.e. Dormammu's power. That in turn provides a conduit for Dormammu to initiate his own plans on Earth, since he can't do anything by himself directly.
Obviously this all just guesswork, but if Dormmamu does appear in Doctor Strange, it's important he's adapted correctly. This is not the kind of villain who you use for one movie and then kill by the end of the story. Not only would he make a great enemy for Doctor Strange 2, but we don't want a repeat of Galactus in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer or Parallax in Green Lantern. Either way, we only have a little over two months until we learn whether Dormammu's inclusion is legitimate or not.
Doctor Strange will work its magic in theaters on November 4. Let us know if you'd enjoy a possible Dormammu appearance in the comments below.
