Marvel Studios’ SDCC 2024 panel had some big news, but perhaps none more surprising than the new direction for Avengers 5, originally titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Now directed by MCU veterans the Russo Brothers, Avengers: Doomsday, starring none other than Iron Man alum Robert Downey, Jr. himself as Victor von Doom, will be hitting theaters May, 2026. Setting aside the sheer insanity of RDJ coming back to the MCU not as Tony Stark but as Marvel’s most iconic villain, this switch-up was something the MCU most certainly needed after they moved on from Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. When looking at the who’s who of the Marvel Universe, Doom really was the only option.
The Multiverse Saga has been something of a roller coaster quality-wise, but one of the biggest concerns across Phases 4 and 5 was that unlike with the Infinity Saga, there didn’t seem to be a coherent plan for where all of this was going. We knew as far back as the mid-credits scene of The Avengers that everything was building towards Thanos, and Marvel tried to do the same thing with Kang. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out the way they hoped; not only did the studio need to distance themselves from Majors after he was convicted for domestic violence, but the groundwork for Kang was spotty at best. His appearances as various variants in Loki weren’t as threatening as they needed to be, and his role as the main villain of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was a head-scratcher, pitting what was supposed to be the big new bad guy against some of the MCU’s weakest heroes.
Marvel could have recast the part and tried to salvage the character, but they clearly lost interest in Kang after the last few MCU projects failed to generate the same level of hype the studio was used to. And of all the villains you could introduce, Doctor Doom is certainly the most hype-worthy. With the Fantastic Four making their way into the MCU next year in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, everyone knew that Doctor Doom was all but assured to follow shortly after. And since Avengers: Secret Wars was always going to be the sixth Avengers movie, comic fans knew Doom, possibly even in God Emperor form, was likely to appear because of his importance to both versions of the Secret Wars storyline. Doom is commonly considered one of if not the greatest villain in the Marvel Universe, but the MCU’s need for Doom goes beyond that.
When looking at which characters have already appeared in the MCU and what villains are left from the comics to adapt, there aren’t really many more major threats left to bring in who could necessitate an Avengers-level team-up. Although the Avengers are one of Marvel’s longest-running franchises in the comics, they have very few villains who are specific to them. Like in the MCU, Loki was their first villain, but the God of Mischief more commonly spends his time just harassing Thor. Ultron and Kang are the two main enemies for the Avengers who did not originate in the solo comics of other heroes, and although the Avengers have battled pretty much everyone at one point or another, there are only a handful of villains who are “big” enough for the event-size films Marvel seems to want the Avengers movies to be.
The Sacred Timeline version of Loki turned good by the end of Thor: Ragnarok and was killed by Thanos in Infinity War. The alternate timeline Loki from his self-titled Disney+ series went through a longer redemption arc and has now accepted his glorious purpose holding the multiversal timelines in place. Captain America archenemy Red Skull could have been an Avengers antagonist, but his transformation into the Stonekeeper on Vormir likely means we won’t see him in a villainous capacity again until a reboot. Ultron was in Age of Ultron and could hypothetically come back down the line since his programming could always be revived somehow, but we’ve seen no indication Marvel is interested in an Ultron return outside of him being a major threat in the first season of the What If…? series. Thanos was already used as the main villain of the Infinity Saga. Kang is out the door (although we still aren’t clear on how Marvel plans on de-emphasizing his importance). Who else could there possibly be?
In terms of villains known for battling the Avengers, there really aren’t many other heavy-hitters. Baron Zemo is famous for leading the Masters of Evil in a siege on Avengers Mansion in the comics, but the MCU has killed so many of their middle-tier villains and doesn’t seem to be interested in building up an evil team to contrast the Avengers. The Leader has crossed paths with the Avengers on occasion, but he’s being used in Captain America: Brave New World. Who else is there? Annihilus? He’s far more associated with the Fantastic Four. Michael Korvac? That’s a deep cut that even comic nerds might have trouble getting behind. Morgan le Fay? They already did the evil witch thing with Wanda in Multiverse of Madness, not to mention adapting Morgan with Elizabeth Hurley in the third season of Runaways. You knew that, right?
When going down the list, the only answer that makes logical sense is Doctor Doom. Doom may be the F4’s greatest foe, but like with Thanos, he’s also well known for battling everyone in the Marvel Universe. We’ve gone into the myriad of ways he’s connected to other Marvel heroes and villains before, and he’s also recently been announced as the main villain of the upcoming hero shooter, Marvel Rivals. He’s the kind of fantastic (hah) character that any franchise would love to have, and at a moment when Marvel is looking for a way to get theirs back on track, he’s pretty much their only option. Now that we know he’s locked in for the next two Avengers films, hopefully we can get back to being excited for the MCU’s new master plan. I mean, it’s got to be better than ten thousand Kangs, right?
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
