Marvel was quick to pivot from Kang (Jonathan Majors) being the main villain of Avengers 5 and Secret Wars to Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. Following Major’s legal issues in the real world, Marvel dropped The Kang Dynasty subtitle for Doomsday.
Just like that, most of the Kang story was abandoned, and Marvel now has to have RDJ’s Doom appear in other MCU movies before fighting the Avengers over the fate of the multiverse.
We always expected RDJ to return as Iron Man, which might still happen. Also, I hope this Doctor Doom is a Tony Stark version who became Doom instead of Iron Man. Marvel announcing RDJ’s return the way they did at Comic-Con a few months back practically guarantees that Avengers 5 will be a massive financial success. It also allows Marvel to keep some surprises secret.
This brings me to a leaker’s scenario for the Doomsday villains. If it comes true, it’ll turn the upcoming Avengers into incredible events that will absolutely destroy the box office. You see, Kang would have had an army of disciples, including a core crew of villains, much like Thanos (Josh Brolin) did in the previous movies. So RDJ’s Doctor Doom will need a team. That’s something we already expect.
But this is where I’ll tell you to stay away from these Avengers: Doomsday spoilers if you want to be surprised in theaters come May 2026.
I told you earlier this week that the rumored Spider-Man 4 cameos might make the next Spidey flick more exciting than Doomsday. Alex Perez said in a Q&A session that Sony and Marvel might bring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back, just as a different leaker claimed RDJ’s Doom could appear in Spider-Man 4.
The same Perez also answered questions about Doomsday, which made me reconsider my previous stance. If these informed Doomsday speculations come true, Marvel won’t have to worry about the Spider-Man 4 crossover outshining Avengers 5.
Asked whether Secret Wars would adapt elements of the “Barons” from the comics, Perez said that was a possibility. That is, RDJ’s Doom will need his own henchmen, much like Thanos did:
It is a possibility. According to one of my sources, there are meant to be secondary villains in the upcoming Avengers films, similar to how Thanos and the Black Order were in Infinity War and in Endgame, and also to replace the Council of Kangs because, again, one of the original ideas was to subdivide the Avengers to fight the different members of the Council of Kangs (i.e. Rama Tut, Centurion, and Immortus), but who exactly will replace them as of this moment is still something unknown.
That makes all the sense in the world. The former title of Avengers 5, Kang Dynasty, suggested the main Kang villain would have allies. That’s the only reason for the Avengers to partner up with superheroes from the multiverse to defeat an incredible threat. And you’d need more people on that villain’s team to make it such a formidable danger.
The Council of Kang reveal suggested that such a team was in development. Change Kang with Doctor Doom, and the same logic applies. Doom should have a team to help him save the multiverse. Like Thanos, I expect Doom to believe he’s doing the right thing by performing whatever mission will cause the conflict in Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Here’s where the exciting surprise might come in. Perez speculates that the Barons might turn out to be a variation of the Multiversal Masters of Evil. Specifically, Marvel would recast the Original Six Avengers as members of the group:
This next part is 90% speculative on my part and more of an educated guess, but based on things I have reported previously, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Barons end up being a variation of the Multiversal Masters of Evil. And I honestly would be less surprised if they recast the former OG 6 Avengers as the members of said group, given that RDJ has been recast as Doom.
Imagine evil variants of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) joining RDJ in Doomsday and Secret Wars. And imagine this surprise staying mostly secret. It would turn Doomsday and Secret Wars into record-breaking movies.
After all, we want to see Black Widow return to the MCU just as much as we want to see Iron Man. Then there’s Steve Rogers, who isn’t dead. Chris Evans, by the way, is rumored to return for Doomsday and Secret Wars.
If what Perez says comes true, the evil variants of the original Avengers would be an even better surprise. Some of these actors might have to play two different roles, as some of the original Avengers are still alive and would likely fight Doomsday in the coming movies.
It can be done, especially considering that Marvel has been training us to appreciate other variants of the main characters so far. The What If…? series is a great example of that.
Perez might be speculating here, but a recent Doomsday tidbit from a different insider would support the scenario above. Daniel Richtman said on X that Marvel brought back RDJ as Doom to drive up hype for the movie and ensure the success of Avengers 5. That’s why they never recast Kang.
If that’s the case, Marvel (and Disney) would probably spare no expense to ensure Doomsday and Secret Wars bring in multiple billions from ticket sales alone.
That might mean paying lots of money to convince Scarlett Johansson to return to her beloved role after the Black Widow issues between the actress and Disney. It could also mean spending lots of money on animating several Hulks for these movies, including an evil Bruce Banner.
