What Does The Ending Of Doctor Strange Really Mean?

4. Is Dormammu Done?

Despite the fact that the Groundhog Day-like repeated death montage that crowns the meeting between Strange and Dormammu is probably the best scene in the entire film, it's a bit of a shame that the iconic villain even appeared.

He has a long and terrible history battling Strange in the comics, and really he should be an ever-present figure, unkillable and only defeatable through feats of intellect, as he was here. It just feels like going so big with him immediately and basically writing in a restriction for him ever appearing again around Earth is a little like jumping the shark, because it means we won't get to see the wealth of stories he's appeared in adapted.

Okay, sure, Dormammu has previous with working his way out of deals with Strange to leave the world alone (and he will probably work with Mordo to try and kill Strange off to do the same this time), but it just felt like scrap-piling a great villain before he even had a chance to get going. Maybe he'll just come back after some other threat rears its head in the sequel?