Avengers: Doomsday will see Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and more join forces to take on the threat of Doctor Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr.). Like Infinity War and Endgame before them, Doomsday and the upcoming Secret Wars will serve as culmination films, as they’ll close out The Multiverse Saga. While many seem pumped to see Doom take on the heroes, others have argued that there’s been no true “buildup” to the character’s arrival. Now, Kevin Feige is weighing in on that argument.
Throughout the Infinity Saga (Phases One through Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), it was evident that the overarching narrative was leading to a showdown with the Mad Titan, Thanos. Josh Brolin’s large, brooding character made brief appearances in a couple of movies, including The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Guardians of the Galaxy. Eventually, he became the Big Bad in Infinity War, and that carried into Endgame.
Ahead of Doomsday, Victor von Doom has only appeared in one film, as he makes a brief appearance in the Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scene. Fans have since taken to social media to air their grievances with the notion of Doom not being teased throughout the last few phases. Feige was asked about this when he spoke with The Brandon Davis Show after Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con. It was there that the veteran producer provided a counterargument for the Thanos/Doom “buildup” comparison:
I was just saying to somebody else that the Thanos buildup has built up in people’s heads over the years. He sat on a chair at the end. He pulled a gauntlet out and said, ‘I’ll do it myself.’ And he yelled at Ronan on a video screen briefly, and that was kind of it. And I remember the memes making fun of Thanos for just sitting in a chair, and all he does is sit on a chair, and there was a Twitter feed, at the time, about him, updating, every day updating, ‘I’m still sitting in my chair. I’m still…’ It was more clever than that, but it was funny.
All jokes aside, though, the Marvel Studios president does make a fair point in that Thanos chair quips were flying around that time. Even Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi joked about the purple alien’s tendency to remain in his chair. Still, Feige now also makes a point about Doom’s MCU entrance compared to Thanos’:
When we got to Infinity War, we said, ‘This is really the introduction of Thanos to people.’ That’s really what we’re doing. That’s how that movie was built. That’s what we’re doing with Doom. Doomsday is [an] introduction and the story of Doom. You peel the onion, you learn things about him as you go. And it is very much meant for audiences that know and love him from the comics and audiences who have no clue who he is.
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So it would seem that as was the case for Thanos and Infinity War, Marvel is zeroed in on ushering him into this continuity in a big way via an Avengers movie, regardless of how frequently he appeared early on. As a fan myself, I’m intrigued to see how that plays out, though I will say that it’s evident that Doom signifies a creative pivot for the MCU. The Multiverse Saga was previously leading to a multiversal battle with the evil Kang the Conqueror, who appeared in several Marvel projects over the last few years. However, that didn’t come to pass given the firing of Jonthan Majors, who played the character.
There’s been a question as to how much RDJ’s Doom casting was influenced by Majors’ dismissal due to legal issues. Yet Kevin Feige previously said conversations about shifting to Doom from Kang preceded Majors’ personal woes. Even now, I can still understand fans who argue that Doom hasn’t been woven into this MCU era as deeply as he could’ve been. But, if directors Joe and Anthony Russo – and writers Stephen McFeely and Michael Waldron – give Victor his due in Doomsday, this could work.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to open in theaters on December 18 as part of the 2026 movie schedule, and that film will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027.
