Marvel Studios just revealed a powerful new weapon for Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom ahead of Avengers: Doomsday with connections to Venom. The MCU is yet to truly introduce the Venom symbiote, as the gooey black alien has been entangled with Tom Hardy and Sony's Spider-Man Universe. While Spider-Man: No Way Home's post-credits scene revealed that Eddie Brock's short-lived round-trip to Earth-616 left behind a sliver of the Venom symbiote that could wreak havoc for Tom Holland's Spidey, that wasn't addressed at all in Brand New Day.
New York Comic-Con 2026 perfectly set the stage for Doctor Doom's looming arrival with a display of his laboratory, which housed artifacts from across Marvel history, including a Venom Bomb. The powerful bio-weapon was introduced almost two decades ago and can turn even the greatest Avengers into Venom symbiotes, sparking theories about whether it will appear in Doomsday.
The Venom Bomb was introduced across Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers and Mighty Avengers titles in 2007. The storyline revealed that Doom's adopted son and heir, Kristoff Vernard, obtained a sample of Venom via time travel and used it to create a symbiote-based virus, which he sold to Doom through proxies as part of a ploy to frame him and seize the Latverian throne.
Vernard had the Venom Bomb deployed across Manhattan, thrusting Luke Cage's New Avengers and Iron Man's government-backed Mighty Avengers into action. The symbiotic virus infected citizens across New York and turned heroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Black Widow, and The Wrap into Venom.
Chaos unfolded across Manhattan due to uncontrollable, animalistic Venoms, with heroes like The Wasp clinging onto their actual powers, resulting in a skyscraper-sized symbiote for the two Avengers teams to contend with. Tony Stark saved the day by synthesizing an antidote and releasing it across New York, allowing Earth's Mightiest Heroes to turn attention to the source: Doctor Doom and Latveria.
The frame worked out for Vernard, as the Avengers arrested the Latverian ruler straight from Castle Doom, although he was ultimately released by Norman Osborn due to his newfound power during the Dark Reign era. So, technically, Victor von Doom never actually used this Venom Bomb himself in Marvel Comics, and he only intended to store it as another weapon in his arsenal.
The narrative is a curious part of Doctor Doom's history, as it marks a rare occasion where he was the victim of a frame, not the true mastermind. With Marvel Studios teasing the Venom Bomb as part of Doom's arsenal, one has to wonder if it will be unleashed when Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18.
Will Doctor Doom Actually Use a Venom Bomb in Avengers: Doomsday?
As Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom can travel the Multiverse, hailing from Earth-828 himself, there are truly no limits to what his collection may contain. The Avengers: Doomsday villain's arsenal, likely located in Doomstadt Tower in Latveria, could be filled with deep cut comic references that are shown fleetingly, even though they are unlikely to be unleashed, such as the Venom Bomb.
New York Comic-Con attendees saw the Venom Bomb on display in Doom's laboratory alongside other artifacts such as the Cosmic Cube, the Ultimate Nullifier, Thanos' helmet, Uru metal, Silver Surfer's surfboard, and Ultron's head. Just as Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania confirmed that Jonathan Majors' Kang had faced Variants of fan-favorite heroes and villains before, it seems that Doom's collection of artifacts will be used to tease that he has done the same.
Sadly, the chances are almost zero that Doom will actually transform the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four into symbiotic monsters, especially since the MCU still hasn't debuted its own version of Venom in live-action. Still, the concept could be an interesting one to explore in a future Spider-Man movie, perhaps minus Doom, as Marvel Studios famously puts its own spin on existing comic storylines.
Just because Doom won't be using a Venom Bomb this time around doesn't mean that he will be short of weapons for his Multiversal crusade, as Hot Toys may have revealed his magical Darkhold replacement. But those familiar with Doom's game will be well aware that his intellect and magic alone will be enough to cause problems for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, even if he collects no other weapons.
