There’s no question that Marvel’s decision to bring back Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom instead of Iron Man gave the MCU the big boost it needed. The incredible Deadpool & Wolverine success isn’t enough in the grander scheme.
The MCU needs better stories than what we got from the Multiverse Saga so far. We need Avengers stories, too. The glue that holds everything together is the crossover stories where various superheroes and villains get to interact.
Now that Avengers 5 is called Doomsday, with RDJ playing the titular villain, there has been renewed interest in the upcoming Marvel movies. We’ve seen several exciting rumors about the upcoming crossovers. It’s not just the Avengers movies, but also Thunderbolts* and Spider-Man 4. Yes, the latter might feature several exciting characters, as it might release between Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Rumors keep piling up, with the latest leak teasing an exciting relationship for Doctor Doom. It’s something many Marvel fans might expect, given the course of the MCU story so far. But it might still surprise some of them. I’ll warn you that big Multiverse Saga spoilers might follow below, so avoid what follows if you love surprises.
When Marvel introduced RDJ as Doctor Doom a few months ago, many people started wondering whether this Doom variant would appear in the MCU’s first Fantastic Four story. After all, Doom is tightly connected to The First Family, and we want that sort of interaction to happen.
Also, since Marvel had to pivot from Kang to Doom, we expect Marvel to insert Doctor Doom in some of the MCU projects that will precede Doomsday so we start seeing the villain in some capacity. It’s what we got with Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the Infinity Saga.
However, rumors that preceded the RDJ return announcement said that Doom isn’t the main villain of The Fantastic Four. Also, we know from the clips and teasers that Marvel offered that the action in First Steps starts in a different reality. That is, the Fantastic Four will join the MCU from another timeline.
I’ll also point out that Doom can’t be from the Earth-616 reality. He has to be a multiversal threat.
Finally, more recent rumors said that Doctor Doom would appear in some capacity in The Fantastic Four, likely in the credits scenes. This will set up the Doctor Doom relationship with Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), but it can’t be the fulfilling dynamic you’d want. Both characters are too new to develop any kind of meaningful backstory.
I’m not even a fan of seeing the Doctor Doom-Mr. Fantastic relationship play out when there’s something more important here. RDJ’s Doctor Doom looks just like Earth-616’s Tony Stark. And you know who Iron Man had a great relationship with? Yes, Spider-Man (Tom Holland), the kid.
It so happens that well-known insider MyTimeToShineHello is happy to report “that Doom and Reed will interact in the Avengers movies and their relationship will be important.” But Doom’s relationship with “Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will be more important.”
I can’t wait to see how that first meeting between Doctor Doom and Peter Parker will unfold, and I’m interested in Spidey’s point of view. Remember that Tony invented “time travel” in Endgame to try to save the kid. He did it, and then he sacrificed himself to beat Thanos.
Tony’s death had a devastating effect on Peter, and things only got worse from there. The events of No Way Home closely follow Far From Home, which happens after Endgame.
The leaker could be wrong, sure. But I’ll point out a different exciting tweet of hers that said Doctor Doom will have a role in Spider-Man 4.
Separately, Marvel insider Alex Perez explored in a Discord chat the relationship between Reed a d Doom. He said we should not expect the Reed-Doom dynamic from the Secret Wars comics. Instead, it’ll be more like Tony’s relationship with Thanos in the previous saga:
It’s going to be hard, if I’m perfectly honest with you. Mainly because Doom and Reed don’t really interact in the Fantastic Four movie. I’d like to think of it more as Thanos and Tony in Infinity War, where like, Tony knew a threat from space was coming, but he didn’t know exactly who it was until IInfinity War yet Thanos knew nearly everything he needed to know about Tony. Just switch Thanos with Doom and Tony with Reed.
All this is circumstantial, and we’re working with leaks here. However, RDJ and Tom Holland will make billions for Marvel and Sony. Fans will follow their characters, and considering the chemistry between the two actors, it’d be silly for Marvel not to explore this relationship in the upcoming Spider-Man 4 and Avengers movies.
It all boils down to Spidey having to fight someone who looks just like his mentor. That’s a dynamic I’m dying to see.
