Dormammu Ive Come To Bargain

2016catchphraseclassic

Published September 26, 2026

Dormammu, I've Come to Bargain is a catchphrase from the 2016 Marvel film Doctor Strange, where Benedict Cumberbatch's character traps a cosmic villain in an infinite time loop. Online, the line became a copypasta and comment game where users post the phrase back to back to mimic that loop.

movie quote memesmarvelcopypasta memescatchphrase memes2016 memes

Overview

Dormammu, I've Come to Bargain is a catchphrase and copypasta pulled from the climactic scene of Marvel's Doctor Strange (2016), where the title character confronts the interdimensional entity Dormammu inside a time loop that resets every time he dies5. Online, the quote is used to invoke that same looping structure, with users repeating the phrase back to back in comment threads until it fills the screen2.

The meme most often takes the form of a comment game where a single short catchphrase gets posted again and again, filling threads without any image required2. Screenshots from the Dark Dimension confrontation, GIFs of Benedict Cumberbatch delivering the line, and parody edits circulate alongside the text4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Doctor Strange (film) / Twitter, Reddit (viral spread)
Date
2016

The line comes from the ending of Doctor Strange, which opened internationally on October 13th, 2016 and in the United States on November 4th, 20165. In the sequence, Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, enters the Dark Dimension and greets the villain with "Dormammu, I've come to bargain," only to be killed and forced to repeat the greeting each time the loop restarts.

Just two days after the US theatrical release, on November 6th, 2016, a novelty Twitter account under the handle @ComeToBargain launched with a single screenshot of the scene and the phrase itself1. Between that debut and March 5th, 2017, the account posted the same message more than 1,200 times, mirroring the film's loop1.

How It Spread

On November 12th, 2016, Redditor LionKiegrass70 asked "What is 'Dormammu I've come to bargain'?" in r/OutOfTheLoop2. Most replies gave straight explanations, but a handful of users answered by repeating the catchphrase in sequence, turning the thread itself into its own small time loop5.

Three days later, on November 15th, 2016, a 9gag Boardroom Suggestion parody placed the line as its punchline, and the top-voted comment thread on that post filled with users chanting the phrase in unison3. On November 19th, an Imgur user posted a looped GIF of Cumberbatch whose title and description were also loaded with nothing but the catchphrase4. By May 2017, that Imgur upload had picked up over 1,100 upvotes and more than 50,000 favorites4.

How to Use This Meme

The classic move is to post the exact line "Dormammu, I've come to bargain" as a reply, then immediately post it again, and again, mimicking Strange's endless negotiation with the villain2. It typically appears under repetitive announcements, groundhog day threads, or any comment section already caught in a loop, often paired with a still image or GIF of Cumberbatch from the Dark Dimension scene4.

Frequently Asked Questions