A new report revealed that Avengers: Doomsday will steal one major Kang the Conqueror storyline for Doctor Doom. Avengers 5 has been through a rather troubled development, having originally been announced as The Kang Dynasty from Loki writer Michael Waldron and starring Jonathan Majors' Kang. That was all abandoned around 2023 or 2024, as Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely came on board with the Russo Brothers to write a Doomsday script featuring Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
Ahead of what was supposed to be The Kang Dynasty, fans got to know Majors' Avengers villain and his Variants across Loki and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Just over a year out from Doomsday and with production wrapped, moviegoers know far less about the MCU's Doctor Doom as he has yet to make his true debut, nor how many remnants from previous plans are still in the script.
Scooper Daniel Richtman took to Patreon to unveil an exciting Avengers: Doomsday rumor, being that the 2026 blockbuster will feature multiple Doctor Dooms in some capacity, including female Variants.
This cleverly copies Marvel Studios' original plans for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which would have split up Earth's Mightiest Heroes against multiple members of the Council of Kangs from Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
One of Marvel Studios' biggest Kang mistakes came in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's post-credit scene, as it confirmed the whole Council of Kangs bore the face of Jonathan Majors, making recasting via a new Variant a little tougher.
It's unclear whether the MCU will go in the same direction with its Doctor Dooms, having every Variant played by Robert Downey Jr., but it's tough to imagine so. After all, fans already met two other Variants in 2005 and 2015's Fantastic Four adaptations, played by the late Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell, respectively.
While Kebbell himself admitted he was "terrible" as Doctor Doom and thus seems unlikely to return, Marvel Studios could use these moments to fulfill popular fan casts. Actors such as Mads Mikkelsen, Henry Cavill, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Javier Bardem, and Henry Cavill could tag along for an Avengers 5 cameo.
Furthermore, the promise of female Variants appearing all but confirms that other actors would tackle these roles. There was once a rumor that No Time to Die actress Ana de Armas was in talks for a role in Avengers 5 (via Daniel Richtman), which could conceivably have been a Doctor Doom Variant cameo.
Typically, Doctor Doom chooses to work alone. Still, there was once a Parliament of Doom in Marvel Comics, with Earth-616's Variant leading a group of his fellows who the Interdimensional Council of Reeds once lobotomized.
If Avengers: Doomsday does include multiple Doctor Doom Variants, it seems more likely they will be feuding alongside one another. This could also open the door to Doctor Doom being recast after Avengers: Secret Wars, as has been rumored with a, frankly, cheaper-to-hire actor than Robert Downey Jr.
Doctor Doom and Kang's Masterplans Have the Same Goal
Even before The Kang Dynasty became Doomsday, both versions of Avengers 5 had the same destination: Avengers: Secret Wars. As such, it seems the end goal for both Jonathan Majors' Kang and now Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom was to create Battleworld, as happens in 2015's Secret Wars comic storyline.
However, the Avengers 5 villains' motivations for pulling together the remnants of the Multiverse in this patchwork reality are somewhat different. While the Kangs sought to conquer and rule, Doctor Doom sees himself as the hero of the story, and the only one who can stop the Incursions threatening the Multiverse.
As Doctor Doom's role in Doomsday is largely still shrouded in mystery, it's tough to tell how similar he will be to Kang the Conqueror. While a Council of Dooms would undoubtedly be out of character for Victor, if there were anyone he was willing to trust in his Multiversal plans, it would be his own Variants.
That said, fans should prepare for that to end in grand betrayal, with only Downey Jr.'s main Doctor Doom Variant ultimately on the throne of Battleworld. After his inevitable defeat in Secret Wars, there would be plenty of room for a new, recast Victor von Doom to appear on the reset Earth-616; one who could form a rivalry with Reed Richards and Marvel's First Family down the line.
