Short answer: In the MCU, Earth-616 Karl Mordo is still alive and active off‑screen, with his exact fate after the first Doctor Strange left deliberately unresolved so Marvel can potentially use him in future stories.

What Happened to Mordo in Doctor Strange?

In the first Doctor Strange (2016)

By the end of the first film, Mordo becomes disillusioned and breaks away from Strange and the Masters of the Mystic Arts.

  • He discovers the Ancient One has secretly drawn power from the Dark Dimension, breaking rules he believed were sacred.
  • Seeing Strange also bend rules with the Time Stone, Mordo concludes that sorcerers are the real problem.
  • In the post‑credits scene, he visits the sorcerer Pangborn, strips him of his borrowed magic, and declares there are now “too many sorcerers,” setting himself up as a future antagonist.

So in that movie, nothing kills him —he simply walks away on a new mission to remove magic from those he thinks misuse it.

Between Doctor Strange and Multiverse of Madness

Marvel has never shown on-screen what Mordo does next in the main MCU universe (Earth‑616). That gap is intentional.

  • Official commentary and coverage describe his actions after 2016’s film as a “mystery,” with the idea that he’s likely out hunting “corrupt sorcerers” around the world.
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor has said that Mordo survived Thanos’ Snap, meaning he was still alive during and after Infinity War and Endgame.
  • Articles and analysis keep stressing that Earth‑616 Mordo is “still out there,” specifically so he can be brought back for a later project (often speculated as Doctor Strange 3).

In other words: in canon so far, Earth‑616 Mordo is alive, off‑screen, and very likely still anti‑sorcerer.

Then Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

The Mordo you actually see in Multiverse of Madness is not the one from the first film.

  • The movie shows Illuminati‑universe Mordo (Earth‑838) , who became Sorcerer Supreme of that reality and an ally‑turned-rival to his own Strange.
  • This variant fights with MCU Strange but survives; he’s left in the Illuminati’s pit after their battle—not dead.

What about the “real” Mordo from 2016?

  • Concept art and interviews reveal that an early version of Multiverse of Madness opened with Wanda (the Scarlet Witch) brutally killing Earth‑616 Mordo when he goes to confront her about the Darkhold.
  • A storyboard artist and later reports described Wanda beheading him in the woods as the original opening, but this was cut from the final film and therefore is not canon.
  • Because that scene never appears in the released movie, coverage and commentators are clear that 616 Mordo’s fate is officially still open.

So onscreen, we never see Earth‑616 Mordo in Multiverse of Madness at all—only his multiverse variant.

How Fans and Forums Talk About It

Around and after Multiverse of Madness , discussion threads, videos, and articles kept circling the same points:

  • Some fans treat the deleted‑scene description as “what really happened,” imagining that Wanda did kill him off‑screen.
  • Others push back, pointing out that Marvel and storyboarders themselves say deleted scenes do not count as MCU canon , leaving Mordo alive until the films say otherwise.
  • Speculation is common that Marvel saved him for a bigger villain (or uneasy ally) role in a future Doctor Strange sequel.

A typical forum-style take is along the lines of:

“616 Mordo is basically in villain limbo right now—he walked off in 2016, survived the Snap, and Marvel just hasn’t cashed him in yet.”

So, Where Is Mordo Now?

Putting it all together for the MCU:

  1. End of Doctor Strange (2016):
    • Mordo abandons Strange and Kamar‑Taj, decides there are “too many sorcerers,” and starts stealing magic from others.
  1. During the broader Infinity Saga:
    • He survives Thanos’ Snap, but his activities are off‑screen and only implied.
  1. In Multiverse of Madness (2022):
    • We see Earth‑838 Mordo, not 616. He lives, but he’s in another universe.
 * Storyboards once killed Earth‑616 Mordo via Wanda, but that was removed and is non‑canon.

Current status (canon MCU):
Earth‑616 Mordo is alive, missing from the screen, and still positioned as a potential future enemy or complicated rival to Doctor Strange.

TL;DR: Mordo didn’t die in the first Doctor Strange ; he left to wage his own war on sorcerers, survived the Snap, and hasn’t reappeared onscreen in the main universe—only a variant shows up in Multiverse of Madness , while the original’s fate is deliberately left open for future movies.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.