Dormammu: Doctor Strange Villain Origin & MCU Phase 4 Future

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Dormammu: Doctor Strange Villain Origin & MCU Future

By Padraig Cotter

Published Mar 13, 2019

Doctor Strange's Dormammu is one of the most powerful villains to ever appear in the MCU, but who is the Destroyer of Worlds and will he return?

Doctor Strange’s Dormammu is one of the most powerful villains in the MCU, but what is the character’s origin story and will the "Destroyer of Worlds" ever return? Marvel likes to keep the MCU fresh by introducing new characters and settings, such as opening up the cosmic side of their universe with James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. Doctor Strange from 2016 set up the magical side, with Benedict Cumberbatch’s former surgeon training to become a sorcerer.

The MCU has no shortage of all-powerful villains, such as Thanos and Hela, but Doctor Strange’s Dormammu could be the most powerful of them all. Strange barely manages to ward off the ancient being's attempt to take over Earth, but there’s every chance he could return in a future entry.

Dormammu was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the 1960s and while the Doctor Strange movie was only able to scratch the surface, let’s explore Dormammu’s comic backstory and his potential role in the MCU's future.

Dormammu In Marvel Comics

Dormammu is an interdimensional entity with an all-consuming goal to conquer the entire multiverse. The character is the tyrant ruler of the Dark Dimension and was created to give Doctor Strange a powerful recurring foe. Dormammu’s origin story is that he was a Faltine - a being made of pure magic - who was banished to the Dark Dimension alongside his sibling Umar.

Dormammu soon began his quest to become ruler of his realm and is typically depicted as a being with a flaming skull. He has clashed with Strange many times over the years, but while the character is all-powerful in the Dark Dimension, he’s vulnerable if he leaves. For that reason, he really leaves his realm.

Dormammu In The Doctor Strange Movie

Dormammu's face as seen in Doctor Strange

Dormammu manages to convince Doctor Strange’s main antagonist Kaeciliusto (Mads Mikkelsen) to destroy two magic sanctums on Earth, which will enable the evil being to bring the Dark Dimension to Earth. In the finale, Strange confronts the entity to bargain for the planet and traps it in a time loop using the Time Stone. Dormammu kills Strange repeatedly - only for the Doctor to keep coming back to life.

The being comes to realize that unless he gives into Strange’s demand he’ll be permanently stuck in the same loop, so he agrees to banish himself and never return in exchange. Cumberbatch provided the voice for the villain also, feeling the arrogant being was in some way a very dark mirror to Strange.

Dormammu's MCU Future

Dormammu from Doctor Strange and Marvel Comics

While Dormammu had no other choice but to retreat, there’s little chance he’d give up on his quest for Earth. The comics have shown him to be inhumanly patient, and with Thanos sure to be defeated by the end of Avengers: Endgame, Phase 4 could use a new recurring threat. That said, his continued role in the MCU hasn’t been confirmed, and Dream Dimension ruler Nightmare is heavily rumored for Doctor Strange 2. That would also suit director Scott Derrickson’s horror movie roots, but there’s nothing to say Dormammu couldn’t be involved or teased as a future threat either.