What If Makes Mordo’s Doctor Strange Plan Even Sillier

Warning: This article contains spoilers for What If...? episode 8.

Mordo believes in the natural order of things in Doctor Strange, and Marvel's What If...? just showed why that's incredibly silly. What If...? episode 8 released Ultron (voiced by Ross Marquand) on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which may destroy everything. Like in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the evil AI plans to destroy Earth, thinking that extermination is the only way to achieve peace, and he's successful in What If...?. After destroying Earth, Ultron sets his sights on other worlds, and he eventually discovers the Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) and the Multiverse. The pair then battle across time and space, with Ultron set on burning everything to the ground.

In Doctor Strange, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) believes in the natural order of things. Unfortunately, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) doesn't necessarily feel the same way. In the film, Strange manipulates space and time to take down Dormammu, which eventually causes Mordo to become a villain and abandon him after the battle. Mordo is against anyone disturbing the natural law, and he warns Strange that there are consequences for tampering with things. "The bill comes due. Always," he says. Following the exchange, Mordo takes a dark turn and goes on a mission to remove sorcerers from the world. According to him, people are too reckless with magic.

What If...? pokes some holes in Mordo's plan from Doctor Strange. Like Mordo, the Watcher also believed in following the natural law, and he even swore an oath that he wouldn't interfere. Unfortunately, he wasn't counting on Ultron. "I cannot exert my will on the natural order of things," the Watcher tells Ultron as an excuse why he always stood by without interfering. "I am the natural order of things," Ultron replies, saying the Watcher lacks the will to stop him. Jeffrey Wright's Watcher finally breaks his oath after realizing Ultron will destroy everything, and he turns to Doctor Strange for help. In doing so, he also shows that Mordo's philosophies are silly.

When it comes to the MCU, the "natural law" of the universe is just an excuse. If Doctor Strange didn't manipulate time in 2016's Doctor Strange, he would've never bargained with Dormammu and ultimately defeated the villain. And there's nothing "natural" about an evil entity from a dark dimension causing havoc in the MCU. Likewise, if the Watcher didn't turn to Strange in What If...? episode 8, Ultron could destroy the entire Multiverse. Time and time again, the villains don't follow the natural order of things in the MCU. And the heroes who do are just allowing bad things to happen.

Mordo's ideals aren't all bad. For instance, Doctor Strange proves Mordo right in the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer. In the upcoming film, Doctor Strange performs a spell to make everyone forget Spider-Man's (Tom Holland) identity. But things go awry, and the failed enchantment seemingly rips a hole in the Multiverse, releasing various Spider-Man villains on the MCU. In that case, following natural law would've been preferable. Though Mordo takes his belief in natural law way too far after Doctor Strange, there's a time and place for everything.

More: Why Steve Rogers Is President In What If Episode 8 (& Not Fighting Ultron)

Marvel's What If...? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.