Marvel Studios rocked the internet when it revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that Doctor Doom would be the new villain of the fifth and sixth Avengers films, which will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. If that wasn’t surprising enough, they also revealed that Robert Downey Jr., who had long portrayed the hero Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, would return to play the iconic villain.
This news has many enormous implications for the MCU, with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty being rebranded as Avengers: Doomsday. While Marvel fans hold their breath in anticipation of this blockbuster event, let’s look at what could happen in the next Avengers film.
Doom will be from the Fantastic Four’s universe
There have been theories that the new Fantastic Four will originate from a universe outside the Sacred Timeline (where most of the MCU takes place), explaining their absence from the franchise and the retrofuturistic look of the 1960s Earth they will inhabit. Because of this, it seems likely that Doom will also migrate to the main timeline with Marvel’s First Family, possibly to escape the destruction caused by Galactus in their native reality.
This narrative choice will allow the villain to share his distinctive animosity with the Fantastic Four as the team’s archenemy, like in the comics, giving their conflict with him in Doomsday much greater weight.
Doom will be a Tony Stark variant
Since Doom may hail from an alternate universe, it stands to reason that Robert Downey Jr.’s villain will be an evil version of his previous character, Tony Stark. Thus, it is likely Doom’s tech will be a different version of the Iron Man armor, blending science and sorcery to create a truly terrifying foe.
Doom took up the mantle of Iron Man when he tried to reform in the comics, donning a similar suit of armor with his trademark green cloak. The villain’s infamous Doombots may even be variants of Stark’s Iron Legion or the subsequent robot sentries created by Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. If Doom turns out to be a Stark variant, the MCU could take full advantage of the Multiverse to unleash its most dangerous mind, usurping another powerful scientist whose future has undoubtedly changed.
Doom kills Kang (all of them)
It’s no secret that Marvel Studios dropped the ball with Kang the Conqueror. Though it set up the time-traveling tyrant as the MCU’s next big bad, the less-than-favorable reception of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles, and his subsequent firing have caused the studio to rethink its plans for the Multiverse Saga.
One critical remnant of their initial plans that needs to be addressed is the Council of Kangs, who appeared after the death of the “Exiled One” in Quantumania, setting the stage for a future war on the Avengers. Since Doom will take Kang’s place as the franchise’s overarching antagonist, how terrifying would it be for Doom to start his rampage by eradicating all the other Kangs? Such a twist will eliminate this hanging plot thread and establish himself as a genuine threat to the Multiverse.
Doom destroys the Multiverse
In the most recent Secret Wars comic storyline, readers witnessed Doom destroy the entire Multiverse in a series of Incursions. However, the masked villain steals the power of the Beyonders with the help of Molecule Man to reshape the remains of existence into a singular realm known as Battleworld, where various characters from the Marvel Universe worship Doom as their God Emperor.
Since the Void seems to have taken Battleworld’s place in the MCU, it stands to reason that Doom will do what Cassandra Nova couldn’t and prune all of existence to form his kingdom in the Void. This outcome would top Thanos’s Snap in terms of world-shattering consequences, as well as set up the cosmic final battle in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Scarlet Witch will be an Anchor Being
Deadpool & Wolverine introduced the concept of Anchor Beings to the MCU. Simply put, Anchors are figures with such great significance that their deaths will destroy their respective timelines. This may be the MCU’s version of “Nexus Beings” from the comics, meaning that the Scarlet Witch may be revealed as the Anchor of the Sacred Timeline.
Wanda Maximoff has had quite a journey in recent years, having unlocked her powers with chaos magic and become one of the MCU’s strongest and most dangerous figures. Whether or not she met her death at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she will likely serve a greater purpose in future MCU films. She may even be a target for Doctor Doom due to her reality-shaping abilities, fulfilling the prophecy uttered by Wong of how she will “either rule or annihilate the cosmos.”
Doom steals Loki’s power
Since Marvel seems to be adapting the 2015 Secret Wars comic series, it is likely that Doom will try to steal the power of some all-powerful being like the Beyonder to reshape the Multiverse and become God Emperor Doom. Though the Scarlet Witch would be a prime candidate, another possible target would be Loki, the God of Stories.
Disney+’s Loki saw a variant of the titular character go from the God of Mischief to the guardian of all realities, gaining the ability to control time and restructuring the Sacred Timeline into an entire Multiverse. Doom could steal such power from Loki, possibly using the power of the Scarlet Witch, in his plan to destroy the Multiverse and recreate it in his image.
Spider-Man faces Doom
Tony Stark became somewhat of a father figure to the young Peter Parker during his first years in the MCU. Following Stark’s traumatic death in Avengers: Endgame, it would be quite a shock for Peter to have to fight a villain who looks exactly like him. Given that Tom Holland’s webslinger is getting a fourth film in the MCU, Spider-Man seems ready to swing into action in the next two Avengers films.
It would be no surprise if such films put a spotlight on his conflicting relationship with what may very well be an evil version of his former mentor. It would be like watching Luke Skywalker having to fight Darth Vader all over again.
The Avengers team up with Thanos
Since Doom is being presented as the next threat to the entire Multiverse, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will need all the help they can get to stop him. So what a twist it would be if the Avengers were forced to team up with one of their greatest adversaries: Thanos.
Though the evil Titan was killed in Endgame, the Multiverse opens the door for another variant of him to appear in the future. Since the Multiverse seems to be on a collision course with itself, it would be no surprise if one of these timelines has a Thanos willing to help defeat Doom.
Galactus appears
Galactus is one of the most iconic and crucial villains in the Marvel Universe, and fans have waited years to see a comic-accurate Galactus rear his gigantic head in the MCU. Though the cosmic villain will finally make his debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it would seem like a waste to have the world-devouring entity appear in just one film.
Despite his status as an antagonist, Galactus’s compulsive need to consume planets has made his character complex and integral to the balance of the cosmos. His role in the latter should very much lead him to confront Doom in the oncoming Multiversal crisis in the next Avengers movie. Doing so would help break the MCU’s bad habit of discarding its best villains in their debut films.
The Young Avengers will appear
Since Doom and Scarlet Witch may cross paths in Avengers: Doomsday, it seems likely that the MCU will adapt a storyline involving them and the Young Avengers called “The Children’s Crusade.” This story sees the young heroes, who include Wanda’s sons Wiccan and Speed, find an amnesiac Wanda married to Doom and the villain stealing her power.
Marvel Studios has been slowly building up the Young Avengers with heroes like Kamala Khan and Kate Bishop, who may recruit characters like America Chavez, Wiccan, Speed, Stature, and White Vision, all of whom have been introduced to the MCU. It’s only natural that this new generation of Avengers join the war against Doom in the near future.
The X-Men will appear
There have been multiple ways for the X-Men to join the MCU, and they have already been set up in projects like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine, and X-Men ’97. Given their absence in the Sacred Timeline so far, it seems like the mutant heroes will make the jump into the spotlight from another universe.
It looks like worlds will start to collide with each other because of Doom joining the MCU, so the X-Men appearing to stop this cosmic threat will only give fans another reason to catch this impending blockbuster.
