Avengers 5 Theory: Doctor Doom Appears In The Kang Dynasty… As An Ally

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty should include Doctor Doom, but not as a villain. Despite having appeared in all Fantastic Four films, including the unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom has yet to have a definitive live-action portrayal. The early 2000s’ Fantastic Four duology was very limited in terms of visual effects and scope, meaning that neither the Fantastic Four heroes nor Doom could properly be adapted. The 2015 Fantastic Four reboot, on the other hand, had the potential to reinvent Doctor Doom for the big screen but also failed. Now, the MCU can finally do Doctor Doom justice by showcasing how nuanced the Fantastic Four villain is.

While Doctor Doom is a Fantastic Four villain first and foremost, the masked sorcerer belongs to the list of Marvel villains that are a menace for the entire Marvel universe. Some of Doctor Doom’s most important moments in the comics involved not just the Fantastic Four but also the Avengers and the X-Men, meaning that Doom has the potential to be a Thanos-level antagonist in the MCU. An obvious prediction is that Doctor Doom would be the Avengers: Secret Wars villain, which is starting to become unlikely given the current Multiverse Saga slate. Still, a multiverse story culminating in Secret Wars must involve Doctor Doom somehow.

It’s Too Late For Doom To Be The Multiverse Saga’s Villain

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The Multiverse Saga could have been to Doctor Doom what the Infinity Saga was to Thanos, but only if the Fantastic Four villain had been introduced right at the beginning of Phase 4. The MCU teased Thanos at the end of The Avengers, six years before Avengers: Infinity War hit the screens. As such, even if the Multiverse Saga doesn’t last as long as the Infinity Saga, it was expected that the MCU’s next Thanos would also be slowly developed before the ultimate confrontation with the Avengers. That is indeed what the Multiverse Saga is doing but with Kang the Conqueror rather than Doctor Doom.

Kang the Conqueror is not exactly a multiverse villain in the comics. While the line between alternate realities and alternate timelines can sometimes be blurry in the comics, Kang is a time traveler villain rather than a multiverse threat. In the MCU, however, the line between multiverse and time travel became even blurrier after Loki. Kang’s time travel powers are being combined with the multiverse storyline in the MCU, meaning that Kang is the Multiverse Saga’s main villain. While not much is known about the MCU’s Secret Wars yet, bringing Doctor Doom as the Multiverse Saga’s final villain would not make sense after all the Kang buildup.

Doctor Doom as the Multiverse Saga’s final villain also does not work because Doom still hasn’t appeared in the MCU. Despite the speculation that Doom would appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, there is still no solid reference to the Fantastic Four’s greatest foe in the MCU. In fact, nothing is known about the MCU’s Fantastic Four, at least on Earth-616. John Krasinski as Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was by all means the Fantastic Four’s MCU debut, yet nothing guarantees that Krasinski will be the Earth-616 Mr. Fantastic going forward. Essentially, there cannot be a Doctor Doom if the Fantastic Four hasn’t been introduced.

Doctor Doom’s Secret Wars Role Can’t Be Ignored (But It Must Be Changed)

There are two versions of Secret Wars in the comics, one from 1984 and one from 2015. While they are technically two sides of the same story, they are drastically different in terms of villains and main events. It’s difficult to say which Secret Wars version will serve as the inspiration for the MCU’s Avengers: Secret Wars, especially because the MCU rarely makes one-on-one adaptations from a specific comic book. The absence of Doctor Doom in the MCU suggests that Avengers: Secret Wars will borrow more from the 1984 story, yet the introduction of the Illuminati and Incursions in Doctor Strange 2 hints at an adaptation from the 2015 story.

The 2015 Secret Wars was pretty much a Doctor Doom story. The rivalry between Victor Von Doom and Reed Richards set the tone for the 2015 Secret Wars, and the massive multiverse event served as the culmination of a decade of Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers stories. As such, a direct adaptation of the 2015 Secret Wars would not really work in the MCU as neither the X-Men nor the Fantastic Four has been introduced. Still, given how recently the Doctor Doom-centered Secret Wars comic book arc was released, it’s difficult not to associate Avengers: Secret Wars with the 2015 comic – especially considering all the multiverse setup.

A multiverse epic culminating in Secret Wars asks for Doctor Doom, yet Doom’s role in the 2015 Secret Wars cannot work in the MCU. Kang the Conqueror is the MCU’s current main villain, and it would be disappointing if Secret Wars had an entirely new antagonist all of a sudden. For that reason, the best option would be to have Doctor Doom in both The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars without being the main villain. In fact, the MCU could play with audiences’ expectations and have Doctor Doom as an ally of the Avengers in The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.

“Ally Doom” Is What The MCU Needs After The Fantastic Four Films

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Doctor Doom as the main Fantastic Four movie villain has been done three times, four considering the unreleased 1994 film, and none of them quite worked. The MCU has a tricky challenge ahead of it regarding Doctor Doom, as it is expected that the upcoming Fantastic Four movies will explore different villains at the same time that Doom is expected to have a large role in the MCU. The first two MCU Spider-Man movies, for example, featured villains that had never appeared in live-action instead of reusing the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus. However, Marvel cannot avoid Doctor Doom for too long.

That is why Doom’s role in The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars should be as an Avengersally – something that subverts Doom’s usual role in the Marvel universe and completely sets the MCU’s version of Victor Von Doom aside from the previous ones. It would not be the first time Doom played the good guy, as the Fantastic Four and the Avengers often have to join forces with the villain to stop a bigger threat. As a brilliant mind and a person full of resources, Doctor Doom could help the Avengers beat Kang in either The Kang Dynasty or Secret Wars.

Doctor Doom As An Avengers’ Ally Would Set Up His Phase 7 Return

Doctor Doom and Black Panther's Wakanda in the MCU

Doctor Doom as a hero in the Multiverse Saga would be a great setup for Marvel’s Phase 7 and beyond. Helping the Avengers and the Fantastic Four save the entire multiverse from Kang the Conqueror would make Doom one of the most powerful forces in the MCU, which can be even more interesting if the heroes do not realize how dangerous Doom can be. The price for saving the multiverse from Incursions or Kang could be giving too much power to Doctor Doom, something that the Avengers would obviously soon regret. Instead of a mostly happy ending like Avengers: Endgame’s, Secret Wars could end on a Doctor Doom cliffhanger.

If Doctor Doom helps the Avengers in the Multiverse Saga, then he would no longer be the usual Fantastic Four antagonist in the MCU like he was in all Fantastic Four movies. Marvel would have much more freedom regarding where to take Doctor Doom, and even a Doctor Doom solo movie or Disney+ show would then work. Doom as an ally in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars would also set up Reed Richard’s usual paranoia, as most of the world would be on Doom’s side. Finally, Doom as an ally of the Avengers can also establish Latveria as a key fictional location in the MCU going forward.

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