Avengers: Secret Wars Rumor Hints At Doctor Doom's Marvel Multiverse Role

Uncharacteristically for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the multibillion-dollar mega-franchise finds itself in a bit of a pickle. Due to the domestic violence allegations against Kang actor Jonathan Majors, the multiversal phase of the MCU finds itself with a massive villain problem, and one executive says things will only get worse after "Loki" Season 2 is over. It remains to be seen if Kang is recast or if the MCU chooses to pivot to another major villain altogether. 

For quite some time now, Doctor Doom has arguably been the most important villain the MCU needs to introduce, and given the character's connections to Kang in the comics, it may be tempting to view the Latverian monarch as a natural Kang replacement — especially with the 2025 "Fantastic Four" MCU movie looming on the horizon. Still, while Doom's arrival could very well be close at hand, he might not become a Kang. Instead, journalist Jeff Sneider stated on "The Hot Mic" podcast that "Fantastic Four" may set Doom up for an appearance in 2027's "Avengers: Secret Wars" — the follow-up to 2026's "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty."

"I still believe that Doctor Doom will be introduced in the post-credits sequence of 'Fantastic Four,'" Sneider said. "... [The strike] could affect that potentially, but that movie is due two years before 'Secret Wars.'" However, according to him, it would be premature to say that Doom will immediately take over as the kind of all-encompassing MCU villain that "Loki" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" have set Kang up as. In fact, Sneider noted that Doom may play a relatively minor role at this stage. "There are multiple villains in 'Secret Wars,'" he said, "so it'd be inaccurate to say he's THE villain."

Sneider isn't alone in saying that Marvel is setting Doom up for a different role than a hasty Kang stand-in. On X, formerly known as Twitter, industry insider account @MyTimeToShineH held similar views. "After looking into it I can confirm that NO, Doctor Doom is not replacing Kang," they wrote.

Giving Doom a slow, multi-movie introduction before throwing him to the forefront does seem like a pretty logical thing to do, considering the way the MCU has handled its biggest overarching villains. Loki (Tom Hiddleston)  has been a nigh-constant presence since he debuted in "Thor." Thanos (Josh Brolin) is introduced little by little before he steps up to the plate for "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." Likewise, Kang variants have crept into the MCU little by little, appearing in both seasons of "Loki" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" so far.

Since Victor Von Doom is arguably just as important a villain as those three — if not even more so — it doesn't seem too far-fetched to assume that the MCU wishes to establish him in a similar way before letting him loose. As such, a stinger appearance in "Fantastic Four" and a supporting antagonist role in "Secret Wars" might be just the trick to establish the villain as a force to be reckoned with. Of course, all this is simply speculation and rumor at this stage, but right now, the buzz seems to indicate that Doom will follow his own arc instead of outright replacing Kang in the Multiverse Saga, regardless of how events unfold behind the scenes.