Doomsday is coming. Seven years after the last Avengers movie, Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18 as the first in a two-part finale to the MCU’s ongoing Multiverse Saga. Iconic heroes like the Avengers, X-Men, New Avengers, and Fantastic Four team up to save their worlds from multiversal collapse–and the vengeful Doctor Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr.).
While there was some initial hesitation from fans at first, Avengers: Doomsday’s marketing has only built hype for the upcoming Marvel crossover. The many trailers and recent release of Avengers: Endgame Encore have inspired dozens of theories about Doctor Doom’s MCU debut and his battle with the Avengers. Some theories are ridiculous, but others are so good, they must be true.
Doctor Doom Won’t Take Off His Mask the Entire Movie
One of the biggest controversies surrounding Avengers: Doomsday is the casting choice for its main villain. In 2024, directors Joe and Anthony Russo announced that Robert Downey Jr. would play Doctor Doom in the next two Avengers movies. Many fans view this as a cheap marketing gimmick, bringing back Marvel’s biggest moneymaker just as the franchise desperately needs to win back audiences. However, one theory suggests that the film will never show Downey’s face beneath the mask.
In the comics, Doctor Doom rarely removes his mask, his vanity making it impossible for him to let the world see the scars beneath. Some optimistic fans, including DC Studios Podcasthost Coy Jandreau, wonder if the MCU’s version of the villain could be the same. If Doctor Doom never reveals his face, then Avengers: Doomsday never has to explain his connection to Tony Stark. Instead, Downey Jr. would be free to chew the scenery in a rare villain role, letting his performance speak for itself instead of banking on fan recognition.
There are still some problems with this theory. Even if Doom never takes off his mask, Marvel Studios still undoubtedly cast Downey Jr. as a marketing stunt. The only thing that could save this decision would be for Downey to turn in an unparalleled performance as the villain (which is still highly possible). Moreover, Marvel has hinted at the face behind Doom’s mask several times, including during his debut in the post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Still, we can hold out hope that Doomsday will exercise restraint.
Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Will Fight the X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday
Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) swings over New York CityImage via Sony/Everett Collection
One of the more tragic Avengers: Doomsday theories claims that the film will open with an incursion-level event pitting two universes against each other: Earth-10005, home of Fox’s X-Men, and the Raimiverse, home of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. As the only hero from his world, Spider-Man would be forced to take on the entire X-Men team and perish in the end. One of Avengers: Endgame Encore’s new post-credit scenes teased that this could be the case, with Earth-10005 on a collision course with another universe (though it appears to have a different multiversal designation from the Raimiverse).
Naturally, no one wants Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man to die. It would be much better to see him survive this initial encounter and go on to play a pivotal role in the film, perhaps sharing scenes with other iconic Marvel heroes like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Chris Evans’ Captain America. Still, if this classic version of Spider-Man was ever going to die onscreen, there would be no better way for it to happen than this.
Already, social media is filled with edits and animatics of how the scene could play out, as Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man refuses to give up against an entire team of superheroes. There’s nothing more inherently “Spider-Man” than facing down insurmountable odds without hesitation. There’s also no arguing that this would be a sufficiently devastating way to open a dark movie like Avengers: Doomsday.
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Doctor Doom Kills the Council of Kangs in Avengers: Doomsday
Rama-Tut, Immortus, and Centurion in the Council of Kangs in Ant-Man and the Wasp QuantumaniaImage via Marvel Studios
Doctor Doom may be the main antagonist of the Multiverse Saga, but that wasn’t always the plan. Originally, Kang the Conqueror and his multiversal variants would have been the ones facing the Avengers. Frustratingly, the Council of Kangs is still out there plotting its hostile takeover, leaving a massive loose end in the MCU’s storyline. Some theories suggest that Avengers: Doomsday could include a scene where Doctor Doom eliminates the Kang variants.
It would be a massive oversight for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars to ignore the Council of Kangs entirely. Much of Phase 5 was dedicated to building up this storyline, making it impossible to sweep under the rug. Even if the Kang storyline never gets to play out in full, it at least needs some level of closure. Marvel wouldn’t even have to bring back Jonathan Majors, either recasting or showing the aftermath of the Kangs’ slaughter.
Having Doctor Doom murder the Council of Kangs would go a long way in establishing him as a legitimate threat to the multiverse. In fact, Avengers: Infinity War introduced Thanos in a similar way, by having the Titan kill off Loki in the film’s opening minutes. Marvel could kill two birds with one stone, setting up Doctor Doom as a terrifying villain and closing one of the peskiest loose ends in MCU history.
Doctor Doom Is Collecting the Most Powerful Beings in the Multiverse
Franklin Richards and Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four: First StepsImage via Marvel Studios
In the original 1984 Secret Wars comic by Jim Shooter, the Beyonder collects some of the most powerful heroes and villains on Earth and brings them to Battleworld to fight to the death. Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 follow-up by the same name takes a different direction, with Doctor Doom taking pieces of various realities and stitching them together to create Battleworld. Some theories wonder if Avengers: Doomsday could somehow combine these storylines.
It appears as though Doctor Doom is collecting powerful beings from throughout the multiverse for an unknown purpose. He “collects” Dr. Bruce Banner in a post-credits scene from Avengers: Endgame Encore. He also appears to Franklin Richards at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, possibly to collect him as well. It may be that Doom is taking the Beyonder’s role from the 1984 Secret Wars, but perhaps not for the same purpose.
In the comics, Doctor Doom is known for siphoning power from other, more powerful beings and adding it to his own arsenal. If he has already gathered some of the MCU’s strongest characters by the events of Avengers: Doomsday, he may be using their power as a way to grow even stronger. With the power of Franklin Richards and the Hulk alone, Doom would be nearly unbeatable.
This would also be a great way to bring back certain characters from the MCU who are assumed dead. Scarlet Witch, for example, could just as easily have been taken by Doctor Doom before Mount Wundagore collapsed on her. Other characters who have been missing for too long, like Doctor Strange and Clea, could also be revealed as hostages of the villainous Latverian dictator.
Doctor Doom Is Fixing the Avengers’ Mistakes
Doctor Doom with Latverian witches in Avengers Doomsday posterImage via Marvel Studios
One of the most prevalent theories regarding Avengers: Doomsday is that Doctor Doom’s mission is a direct response to the Avengers’ actions during and after Endgame. One line from the trailer is particularly ominous, as the villain menacingly declares, “All of you are living stolen lives.” This could be a reference to several Marvel heroes who have either altered the timeline or dabbled with cosmic forces to save their friends and family.
A shocking number of heroes are guilty of cheating reality in favor of saving the people they love. The Avengers traveled through time to resurrect half of all life in the known universe. Steve Rogers went back in time to be with Peggy Carter. Thor is raising a daughter who was resurrected by the cosmic entity Eternity. Spider-Man and Doctor Strange rewrote reality in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Wolverine changed the timeline to save the X-Men in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The Fantastic Four tampered with the cosmic order to save Franklin when Galactus came to collect him. Loki rewrote the laws of the multiverse itself to become the god of stories. Stolen lives.
All this tampering is more than enough to cause devastation throughout the multiverse, perhaps even causing the incursions that take place in Avengers: Doomsday. It may be that the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, not Doctor Doom, are to blame for the multiverse’s collapse. This would make for an interesting twist, as Doctor Doom emerges as the legitimate hero of the film, fighting to save the multiverse by any means necessary, even if it means killing our favorite heroes.
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026.
Release Date
December 18, 2026
Runtime
165 Minutes
Director
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Robert Downey Jr.
Victor von Doom
Pedro Pascal
Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman