Avengers: Doomsday's latest promo confirmed Doctor Doom's key rivalry is coming to the MCU. Just over six months out from Avengers 5, directing duo the Russo Brothers recently teased some kind of marketing for the movie coming this week. Shattering hopes for Doomsday's first teaser release after hinting at a surprise coming out of SXSW London, the Russo Brothers came to the U.K. event with a special Don Latveria Coffee pop-up event. The coffee shop is inspired by one that would exist in Doom's home country of Latveria and is littered with Easter eggs.
One such Easter egg (via cinemakaination) to appear on Dom Latveria's menu boldly declares that "Richards was wrong," hinting that Avengers: Doomsday will explore a rivalry between Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards. That rivalry is one of the most important in Marvel Comics, harkening back to Victor von Doom's first appearance in 1962, written by Stan Lee.
Their never-ending feud began at Empire State University with an academic rivalry between two geniuses that would only escalate over the years. Things grew worse when Doom tried to build a machine capable of communicating with his dead mother, while Richards warned him of a fatal flaw in the calculations.
Despite the Fantastic Four icon's attempts to warn his archrival, the Latverian genius ignored, leading the machine to blow up and scar his face, for which he blamed Richards regardless, accusing him of sabotaging his efforts.
Previously, there have been concerns that Marvel Studios is about to make a fatal mistake with Doctor Doom, with reports suggesting that Avengers 5 is setting up Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, not Reed Richards, as his primary vice. However, the Doomsday pop-up's cryptic clue that "Richards was wrong" signals that, yes, there will be some degree of beef between Doom and the Fantastic Four leader.
Fans have generally been convinced that RDJ's Doom comes from Earth-828, the universe recently introduced in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. That being said, a recent look at Latveria's flag hinted that Doom may be from another universe, creating a hurdle in establishing his conflict with Richards.
Why Doctor Doom vs. Mr. Fantastic Is Vital to Avengers 5 & 6
Much of Avengers: Doomsday is all about setting the course for next year's Secret Wars, in which RDJ's Doctor Doom will likely be ruling over Battleworld. The 2027 blockbuster is taking much of its inspiration from 2015's Marvel Comics event of the same name, in which the rivalry between geniuses was the crux of it all.
Ultimately, the climax of the Jonathan Hickman-written event is a philosophical clash between Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Doom over who is best equipped to save the Multiverse. That clash culminated when Doom finally admitted that his old rival was better suited to wield the Beyonders' power and heal the Multiverse.
After a five-decade rivalry driven largely by ego, that confession was a major turning point in the dynamic between Doom and Reed. As far as clashes between the pair go, Secret Wars is arguably the pinnacle, and yet it will be tough to bring to the MCU with any significant weight with only two movies.
At the very least, it should be reassuring to know that the next two Avengers movies won't be all about Doctor Doom vs. Steve Rogers. Still, one has to wonder what Doomsday's "Richards was wrong" clue is all about; perhaps the Fantastic Four hero was once more dismissive of Incursions that would be wise.
If Avengers: Doomsday establishes that Reed Richards and Victor von Doom go way back to college, one has to wonder if the Fantastic Four have already clashed with their Latverian rival off-screen. If so, it could be painted as a turning point where Doom is now turning to his foes for help in saving the Multiverse.
