A variant cover for Marvel's upcoming The Death of Doctor Strange #2 suggests the Sorcerer Supreme may be about to meet his end at the hands of Baron Mordo. Coming this September from Jed MacKay and Lee Garbett, Marvel has made it clear the title of this five-issue miniseries is meant to be taken literally, and readers will be witness both to the end of Stephen Strange's life and the ways in which the Marvel Universe reacts.
Depicted in the MCU's Doctor Strange by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Baron Karl Mordo is a former student of the Ancient One. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Mordo's first appearance was in 1963's Strange Tales #111. In the MCU, Mordo is driven to anti-sorcerer extremism after learning of the Ancient One's connection to the Dark Dimension, but in the comics he was always planning to kill his master, stopped only by the timely intervention of Stephen Strange. Mordo has hated Doctor Strange ever since, falling in and out of favor with the great forces of magic, from the heights of battling Dormammu to the lows of working as the Kingpin's mystical stooge.
Releasing October 20, The Death of Doctor Strange #2 will feature a variant cover by Dan Panosian - who has shared the piece on Twitter ahead of publication - in which Baron Mordo gloats over the body of his longtime nemesis, having seemingly killed Doctor Strange with knives made of ethereal energy. Mordo is pictured seated on a throne, with large square windows that suggest the murder didn't occur within Strange's own Sanctum Sanctorum.
In many ways, Baron Mordo is a strange choice to kill Doctor Strange. While the two are old enemies, Doctor Strange has gradually grown in power and influence while Mordo has become less and less threatening as a Marvel villain. While still a formidable mystic, Mordo is more likely to be found serving larger evils - the type of villain Doctor Strange now tends to deal with personally. Of course, it's possible the cover is only one potential interpretation of Doctor Strange's end. Marvel's Daredevil: End of Days depicted multiple deceased characters on its covers in scenes that were more about the story's theme than its actual events, and it's possible that as publication nears, Marvel will unveil further variants of Strange's various villains taking him out.
Fans have expressed shock at Marvel's plans to kill off Doctor Strange ahead of the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is planned for March 2022. Of course, comic heroes are famous for returning from death, but everything about the way Marvel is presenting The Death of Doctor Strange suggests he'll be absent from the comics for a significant time, and that whichever villain is able to take him out will enjoy a significant victory - in Baron Mordo's case, he may even be able to claim the title of Sorcerer Supreme by facing the current holder of the title in combat. Fans will have to wait for The Death of Doctor Strange to see if Baron Mordo really will be the one to kill the Sorcerer Supreme, but they can rest assured that if Stephen's nemesis truly ends his life, it's not a crime that Marvel's other heroes will allow to go unpunished.
Source: Dan Panosian