Avengers: Doomsday will reportedly align Doctor Doom with a line-up of secondary villains with an exciting Multiversal twist.
Fans have been well aware since San Diego Comic-Con 2024 that Robert Downey Jr. will lead the way in Avengers 5 as Doctor Doom, taking the place of Jonathan Majors' Kang as the main antagonist to Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Avengers 5's Multiversal Secondary Villains Teased by New Report
In response to a recent Discord Q&A, The Cosmic Circus' Alex Perez reported a surprising twist about Avengers: Doomsday's secondary villains.
When Perez was asked to hint at Doomsday's secondary antagonist, he noted there may be multiple and stated they "are going to be Variants:"
"It’s funny, you assume that a movie of this magnitude only has 1 secondary antagonist. What I can tell you is that the secondary antagonists, whoever they may be, according to my sources, are going to be Variants."
The Avengers taking on an arsenal of villains is nothing new, as Infinity War saw the heroes contend with not just Thanos but also the Black Order.
The insider also said there will be "an overwhelming number of Variants" in the coming Avengers blockbusters, teasing "some are going to be good, some are going to be bad, and some are going to be really worse:"
"There is going to be an overwhelming number of Variants in these movies, a lot more than the characters set to appear in these movies that are from Earth-616. Some are going to be good, some are going to be bad, and some are going to be really worse."
During Loki Season 1, He Who Remains prophesized a Multiversal War was coming, which would send his Kang Variants into conflict, and one fan asked Perez whether Doomsday would still tackle a similar concept.
The Cosmic Circus writer stated Doomsday and Secret Wars will still see a Multiversal War "play out on the magnitude" that was teased in Loki. However, the story will change Kang and his Variants for heroes and villains from "across the Multiverse landscape:"
icast05: "Given that one universe must destroy the other to prevent an incursion, do you see the Multiversal War prophesied by He Who Remains happening in Avengers: Doomsday?"
Alex Perez: "That’s not how incursions really work, but yeah, the whole idea for these next two films is seeing a Multiversal War play out on the magnitude that was teased back in Loki season 1. The thing is, this time, the key players in this war won’t be Kang or his variants but rather other Marvel heroes & villains from across the Multiverse landscape."
A "full-on Multiversal war" was once planned to play out during Loki Season 2 but was ultimately saved for later as executive producer Kevin Wright explained the idea "felt completely wrong" for the Disney+ series.
Avengers 5 Could Bring Back Famous Faces as Villains
Going back to a time when Avengers 5 was called The Kang Dynasty, the movie was expected to see the MCU's heroes divide into multiple teams to take on different Variants of Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror.
While Avengers: Doomsday will vastly differ from what Avengers: The Kang Dynasty once was, Marvel Studios may maintain elements in the new script, such as dividing Earth's Mightiest Heroes across various teams and villains.
As Robert Downey Jr. is already coming back for Doomsday and Chris Evans has since joined the cast, one theory has all six original Avengers actors returning as villains to form a Multiversal Masters of Evil.
During the same report from The Cosmic Circus, Alex Perez stated Evans could pull "double duty" as multiple characters, including one that "stands alongside RDJ's Doctor Doom." As such, Evans could land on both the heroic and villainous side, as he will reportedly play Nomad in Avengers 5.
Perhaps Evans could side with Doctor Doom as Hydra Supreme, a Steve Rogers Variant from the Secret Empire storyline indoctrinated into the evil group as a child and became its leader after killing Red Skull.
In terms of the rest of the Avengers cast, Mark Ruffalo could play Maestro, a Variant of the character who possesses the intellect of Bruce Banner and the strength of his gamma counterpart, ruling as a brutal tyrant in the future.
Furthermore, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Chris Hemsworth could also return to play evil versions of their original Avengers, posing a tough physical and mental challenge for the next generation of heroes.
Alternatively, Marvel Studios may take a simpler route and have Doctor Doom recruit Variants of past MCU villains who have died, such as Thanos (who has now been killed seven times in the franchise), Red Skull, Ultron, and Kang.
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on May 1, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars set to follow on May 7, 2027.
