Marvel All But Confirms 1 Doctor Doom Theory for Doomsday (& May Have Debunked Another)

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The upcoming movie, Avengers: Doomsday, is really coming together, and it appears to be a large-scale conflict between the Avengers and the X-Men. While Avengers: Endgame felt like a tribute to everything Marvel had created so far, Doomsday seems to be aiming to celebrate all of Marvel’s films from this century. It will include the heroes introduced in Phase 4 of the MCU, plus the return of Chris Evans as Captain America and Robert Downey Jr. playing Doctor Doom. Excitingly, the movie will also feature characters from the X-Men universe, like Professor X, played by Patrick Stewart, and Cyclops, played by James Marsden.

The first look at Doctor Doom during CinemaCon showed him as a truly massive threat. One scene depicted him effortlessly stopping Thor’s Stormbreaker with just two fingers, proving he’s far more powerful than even the God of Thunder. However, everything points to Doom not being the biggest problem in the movie. Like the comics, he actually believes he’s a hero trying to rescue what’s left of the multiverse.

Avengers: Doomsday’s Trailer Hints the Multiverse is Dying

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced the idea of incursions. According to another universe’s Reed Richards, “An incursion occurs when the boundary between two universes erodes, and they collide. Destroying one, or both, entirely.” At least three universes are in play in Avengers: Doomsday, and they’ve already begun to cross over. They are:

  • The main MCU (known as Earth-616)
  • An X-Men universe, likely the one Monica Rambeau was blasted into at the end of The Marvels
  • The Fantastic Four’s universe, with those heroes clearly arriving on Earth-616 in Thunderbolts*‘ post-credit-scene.

Okay, so the whole concept of these ‘incursions’ – worlds colliding, basically – immediately brought me back to Jonathan Hickman’s ‘Secret Wars’ from 2015. That comic was huge! And it featured Doctor Doom doing what he does best: while everyone else was panicking, trying to understand what was happening, Doom was already several steps ahead with his own plan. He actually succeeded in fixing things, stitching together the broken pieces of the multiverse into this place called ‘Battleworld.’ And of course, he took charge, ruling with almost unlimited power because he genuinely believed he was the only one who could hold everything together. It’s a really interesting setup, and seeing it here definitely feels like a nod to that classic storyline.

Footage shown at CinemaCon from the upcoming Doomsday movie suggests Marvel is using a familiar storyline. Doctor Doom’s dialogue – “Something’s coming. Something we may not be able to deter” – strongly hints that the film will focus on incursions and Doom’s efforts to save the multiverse. Like Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel appears to be positioning the villain as a hero, but this time with even bigger consequences.

But is Doctor Doom a Tony Stark Variant?

Many fans immediately wondered why Robert Downey Jr. was chosen to play Doctor Doom, and the leading theory was that he was a version of Tony Stark from another reality. Some imagined a scenario where this Stark had won against Thanos and avoided the devastating snap. Marvel fueled this speculation with references to a comic book moment where Doom defeats Thanos, which would have made the casting especially meaningful. It’s a bit like the famous quote from The Dark Knight: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Footage from CinemaCon suggests the idea that Doctor Doom is a variant of Tony Stark is likely incorrect. The clip confirms Doctor Doom will have an accent, which doesn’t align with the theory of him being a version of Tony Stark who became an Avenger. This accent implies the Marvel Cinematic Universe is drawing inspiration from the comic book version of Doctor Doom, specifically his origin as the ruler of Latveria, a fictional country in Eastern Europe. Interestingly, the mention of Latveria in the comic First Steps might suggest Doctor Doom originates from the Fantastic Four’s timeline.

Marvel’s presentation at CinemaCon was a brilliant strategy. The footage strongly suggests that ‘incursions’ – events that destroy universes – are the central conflict leading into the next Avengers: Secret Wars movie, providing a clear storyline. However, a popular fan theory about Doctor Doom being a version of Tony Stark from another timeline seems to be incorrect. While there’s still a reason why Doom looks like Stark, it remains a mystery – and that makes the upcoming story even more intriguing.

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2026-04-18 19:49