It’s official! Avengers: Endgame is the biggest movie of all time. For a movie of such stature it’s fitting that the flick is chock full of characters from the mighty Marvel Universe! So much so that we didn’t think it was possible to fit any more into the proceedings. But wouldn’t you know it? If the writers behind the bombastic blockbuster had their way, there’d be even MORE multitudes of mayhem on the silver screen for your eyes to feast upon. The original script for the Avengers’ fourth and final film has been making the rounds online ahead of awards season. Inside the pulse pounding pile of pages are a number of scenes that didn’t make the cut, including one that involved Doctor Strange’s villain from the dark dimension, the Dread Dormammu!
The scene in question revolves around the Hulk traveling back in time to retrieve an Infinity Stone during the Battle of New York in 2012. The Hulk arrives at the Sanctum Sanctorum and finds none other than the Ancient One on the rooftop casually participating in the fight. She meets the Hulk atop the building and the two debate the merits of the Avengers’ plan. The Ancient One explains to Bruce that she is sworn to protect the time stone and cannot simply give it to him.
As seen in the final film, the Ancient One conjures up a visual of the timeline for Bruce and the audience to see. She demonstrates what would happen if the time stone was taken out of the timeline. A new tangent branches off from the original timeline to create a dark alternate reality. In the older version of the script, the camera zooms into the new timeline and we get a glimpse of what that alternative history would be.
The alternate scene takes us back to Hong Kong, the setting for the final battle in Doctor Strange (2016). Looking over a mass of terrified people fleeing for their lives, we see the Hong Kong Sanctum in flames. The camera tilts up to reveal Dormammu above the destruction. In essence, the Ancient One is saying that if the time stone is removed from the current timeline, Doctor Strange will not have it to defeat Dormammu and prevent him from swallowing up our reality into the dark dimension. We then come out of this grim future and back to New York where the Ancient One shows Bruce how the removal of each stone will alter the timeline and create new realities.
The Dread Dormammu was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1964’s Strange Tales #126. He looks much different than the omnipotent floating head seen in the movie. Although he has the power to change his appearance as he sees fit, in the comics Dormammu usually appears as a humanoid figure with a head of flames. He is seen as one of, if not THE, most powerful supernatural entities in the Marvel Universe. Dormammu is composed of mystical energy and has the powers of energy projection, matter manipulation, shape shifting, teleportation, possession, necromancy, the ability to give power to another, and also to create demons. Why isn’t Dormammu the ultimate villain of the Marvel Universe again?
While dropping a little cameo of Dormammu into Avengers: Endgame would have been a nice nod to longtime fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it ultimately would not have added anything to the story that the Ancient One’s quick demonstration hadn’t already shown us. Although Doctor Strange defeated Dormammu in his first flick, the demonic ruler of the dark dimension is the Sorcerer Supreme’s archnemesis, and we hope the good doctor gets another chance to tangle with him in the future. Nuff’ said.