In the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, things were pretty tightly written. The vast majority of plot points that were set up through post-credits scenes, cameos, or teases had their payoffs. However, as time has gone on, the MCU has started to set things up that haven’t been answered. For example, Hercules was teased in Thor: Love and Thunder but has yet to be mentioned again, Hulk has a son introduced in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law who has been forgotten about, Clea appeared at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and that’s just to name a few.
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This can be frustrating for the fans who do their best to pay attention to everything that the franchise sets up because it just leaves things unanswered. For example, the entirety of Eternals has also been swept under the rug. One of the first instances of this problem came in 2016’s Doctor Strange, which set something interesting in motion and failed to pick up on it. Now that it is a decade later, we likely will never get an answer, yet there’s an opening to pick it up, explain what happened, and set the table for Avengers: Doomsday all in one swoop.
Mordo Going After Sorcerers Is An MCU Loose Thread
Along with introducing the world of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange gave us Karl Mordo, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. He was already at Kamar-Taj when Strange arrived and is the one who brings him to The Ancient One. As Strange ultimately becomes a more powerful sorcerer than he is, Mordo also learns the truth about The Ancient One pulling from the Dark Dimension. After Strange also deals in the Dark Dimension, Mordo renounced his sorcerer path and was disgusted at how they defied nature.
The post-credits scene of Doctor Strange gave us one more look at Mordo as he took down Jonathan Pangborn, a man who was using mystical energy to heal his legs and walk away. Mordo stole his energy and said that Earth had too many sorcerers, suggesting that he was going to hunt down as many as he could. That sounded like a cool concept for a sequel or even a Disney+ show, but the MCU has never picked up on the thread.
When the trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premiered and showed Mordo, many believed we’d finally get the answers we wanted. Instead, the Mordo we were treated to was one from an alternate universe, who was a member of the Illuminati and didn’t have the desire to track down sorcerers. While it was nice to see Ejiofor back as the character, not getting any resolution to the post-credits scene from the prior movie felt like a huge missed opportunity.
Mordo’s Quest Could Play A Part In Avengers: Doomsday
Now that a decade has passed, it is difficult to imagine any movie or show picking up on this Mordo loose thread, especially with something as big as Avengers: Doomsday on the horizon. However, there’s a possibility that it could be explained away in the film and actually have an impact on what happens during that major event. We still don’t know if Mordo actually ever went through on his plans but it would be interesting if Avengers: Doomsday explained that he did. He could have been quietly eliminating various sorcerers, especially after the events of Avengers: Endgame, which featured so many.
Mordo’s efforts would’ve been helped by Wanda Maximoff in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when she killed dozens of them. If he had been getting rid of magic users as well, the number of sorcerers left would be pretty small. That would make Earth even more vulnerable to an attack from Doctor Doom. As noted, sorcerers played a huge part in defeating Thanos and his army in Avengers: Endgame, so not having them around to combat Doctor Doom would only add to how unstoppable he seems.
There has even been talk of Doctor Doom assembling a cabal of characters to help him. The added Avengers: Endgame scene where he shows up to take Bruce Banner away plays into that, as he could want Hulk on his team. If Mordo has accomplished some of his goal on Earth, there’s a chance that Doom could utilize him as well. There also isn’t any confirmation on whether or not Benedict Cumberbatch is in Avengers: Doomsday, though he’s likely in Avengers: Secret Wars. A return in that film to set up a showdown with Mordo would be a great way to pay off that loose thread and fit into the larger overall story for Avengers: Doomsday.
Let us know in the comments if you think we’ll ever see a resolution to this Mordo story and if you’d like it to play a part in Avengers: Doomsday!
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