There’s been an uptick of Doctor Doom MCU rumors recently, and that’s hardly surprising considering all the Fantastic Four excitement. It all culminated with Howard Stern saying on a hot mike the other day that he’ll be involved in a Doctor Doom project soon. Before we discuss it any further, you should know that some spoilers might follow below.
Doctor Doom teasers and rumors
Before we get to Howard Stern’s Doctor Doom comments, we have to remember all the recent teasers and rumors.
Marvel gave us our first taste of Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and it did so by fulfilling a huge fan fantasy: John Krasinski played Reed Richards. Sadly, he died just a few minutes after showing up. There’s no guarantee that Krasinski will play Mister Fantastic in the MCU’s primary reality.
After the film’s Disney Plus release, Marvel also confirmed that the teleporting technology Richards use comes from Doctor Doom.
Separately, rumors said that Doctor Doom will appear in a post-credits scene soon. Specifically, Marvel may have quietly shot scenes for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever featuring a mysterious Doctor Doom. The name of the actor who plays him has not yet been confirmed.
It’s critical to remember that Doctor Doom isn’t just one of the main villains in Fantastic Four. Marvel could use the character as it did with Thanos, setting up Doctor Doom to become a massive threat in the bigger storyline.
The hot microphone
During a commercial break on The Howard Stern Show, the microphones stayed on. And the audience could overhear a conversation between Stern, Will Murray, Robin Quivers, and Gary Dell’Abate about the show.
It’s in this context that Howard Stern mentioned the Doctor Doom role.
They started talking about potential guests:
Stern: “That would just be better for me.”
[unintelligible]
Will Murray: “Can I be heard right now?”
Monkey: “Yeah”
Murray: “My Zoom craps out at the end of every show.”
Robin Quivers: “Really? Cause I was like, ‘Why’s Will in the dark?”
Stern: “Alright, let’s do this.”
Monkey: “So I just wanna run a couple of names by you for guests who are gonna be around in the Fall. I’m not gonna talk to you so much in the Summer.”
Stern: “What I’m saying is let’s do it… I’m burned out. That would just be better for me.”
Kevin Feige, Howard Stern, and Doctor Doom
Then the topic of Kevin Feige came up, with Howard Stern telling them that he will appear in a Doctor Doom project:
Monkey: “Ok, Kevin Feigeman [sic] from the office called and wants to know if that schedule works for you.”
Robin: “Kevin Feigeman, I’ve never heard that name before.”
Murray: “I think he means Kevin…”
Stern: “Kevin Feige, Gary. Tell him it works but they’re going over the schedule with me and it’s gonna suck.”
Robin to Stern: “Are you working this summer?”
Stern: “Well, I’m gonna do ‘Doctor Doom.’ But believe me, I’m fucking miserable about it.”
[unintelligible]
This quickly led to Stern saying he might need to call Robert Downey Jr. for tips:
Stern: “Cause I’m an asshole. That’s what I did on America’s Got Talent.”
Robin: “Are you excited about it?”
Stern: “Yeah, I called Robert Downey…I was asking him acting technique.”
Robin: “Really?”
Stern: “Gary, do you have the number for Jon Favreau?”
Monkey: “I do. I have his cell phone.”
Is Howard Stern playing Doctor Doom?
It’s too early to say what sort of project Marvel will be shooting this summer featuring Doctor Doom. But if Howard Stern wasn’t just messing with his audience, then we might see Doctor Doom in the MCU in the not too distant future.
Does this mean that Howard Stern will play or voice Doctor Doom? That’s also too early to say. Marvel will undoubtedly want an actor who will stick around for multiple projects where Doctor Doom appears. And Stern didn’t seem to be too excited about working over the summer.
Maybe he won’t have to worry about playing Doctor Doom now that he leaked it. Perhaps that was the whole gambit.
On the other hand, Marvel is making another season of What If…? soon. That’s the kind of MCU title where any actor could voice any character. It’s an animated series where the stories focus on variants of MCU characters. In that case, Howard Stern could always voice Doctor Doom from a different reality. All of this is speculation, however.
You can catch Stern’s mention of Doctor Doom below, at around the 1:12 mark:
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