Robert Downey Jr. continues to push the Doctor Doom agenda ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, posting an image that seems to tease his character's future successor. When the Russo brothers came out on stage at San Diego Comic-Con and announced that Downey Jr. would be trading in his red suit for a green one, the reaction from fans was positive, to say the least. They weren't worried about the ramifications of handing over arguably Marvel's most important villain to one of Hollywood's most in-demand actors.
Kevin Feige and his braintrust over at Marvel Studios handle all that business, keeping the present intact while mapping out the future. Certainly, they knew from the jump that Downey Jr. wouldn't stick around for long, having already done the superhero gig for over a decade. All signs point to Doom terrorizing Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars before hanging up his cape and moving on to greener pastures.
But a two-movie arc just doesn't sound good enough for a villain of Doom's caliber, especially since he's unlikely to get as much facetime with his arch-rivals, the Fantastic Four, as previous iterations. If only there were a way for Downey Jr. to get his fill without putting a lid on Doom for good.
Well, it turns out Downey Jr. might be teasing that very scenario via a recent post on Instagram. To celebrate Father's Day, the actor released a card made by Doom's son that celebrates the villain's exploits and drags the Avengers and Fantastic Four through the mud. While the hilarious image could be nothing more than a quirky piece of marketing, it's hard to ignore the implications of Doom having a son in the MCU.
In Marvel Comics, Doom came across a young orphan named Kristoff Vernard in his home country of Latveria. Wanting to lend a hand, he took the boy home and raised him as his own, even naming him the heir to the Latverian throne. Unfortunately, Doom's transgressions came back to bite him, with him meeting a horrific end during an alien invasion.
Doom's robot army couldn't accept that their master was dead, though. They took Kristoff and reprogrammed his mind, making him believe he was the original Doom. Before long, the new Doom was picking fights with the Fantastic Four and anyone else who got in his way.
The path to bringing Kristoff to the MCU seems pretty simple. Either Doomsday or Secret Wars can introduce him as Doom's protégé and have him watch from the sidelines as his adoptive father loses his grasp on the multiverse. In reality, it would be business as usual for Marvel Studios, which has a knack for making children of bad guys into fully fleshed-out characters.
The MCU Has A Great Track Record With Legacy Villains
Marvel Studios' first big bad was none other than the Mad Titan, Thanos. Wanting to collect all six of the Infinity Stones, he sent heralds all across the universe to do his bidding, including his two adopted daughters, Gamora and Nebula. It didn't take Gamora much time to see through Thanos' lies, but Nebula stuck by his side for a while.
Nebula just wanted to be accepted by the only real family she knew. Fortunately, she saw the error of her ways before it was too late and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy.
With Nebula retired from the hero game, Kristoff could be a candidate to pick up the baton from her in the MCU. The source material also allowed him to turn over a new leaf and become a key ally of the Fantastic Four.
Obviously, Kristoff will need to be introduced in live-action before he thinks about giving up on his father's dreams. However, Downey Jr. isn't shying away from the fact that his newest Marvel character has a family, one with great potential for a franchise in desperate need of some.
