How Could 'Avengers: Doomsday' Divert From Kang The Conquerer To Doctor Doom?

Everyone knows that with the Jonathan Majors allegations from a few years, Marvel promptly fired the actor and thus brought about an abrupt end to the build up of Kang the Conquerer as the new Thanos-style villain of the Multiverse Saga.

Of course we now have Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU in the form of not Tony Stark/Iron Man, but Victor Von Doom to fill the gap Kang has inevitably left. The only big, stinking problem here is that Marvel have had to change route mid-journey to 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now Avengers: Doomsday. Okay. All well and good. But there has been a lot of build up around Kang already, especially with the Loki TV series.

So, the question is how does Marvel effectively shift focus to Doctor Doom, making him a bigger threat than Kang, given everything that was being fueled before Majors' untimely dismissal?

Let's assess the possibilities...

1. The Kang variants were servants/soldiers for Doctor Doom

The first variant of Kang that we met, He Who Remains, gave us some background on his original variant, who we assume is Franklin Richards. From there, he told the story of the multiversal war and how variants of himself erupted into confrontation across all alternate realities.

He Who Remains claimed to have brought about an end to the multiversal war in creating the TVA and the sacred timeline. However, when we jump ahead to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we can see that all of the Kang variants are very much to be on side with each other and preparing for war again.

We are led to believe that this is linked to the Kang we met in 'Quantumania', which maybe it was. But what if this time around, all Kang variants were brought together by a higher power who offered them power across the multiverse and they could achieve it with his leadership? Someone like, say, Victor Von Doom?

This could allow Marvel to segway to Doom begin a superior villain to any Kang out there, and it could play off Quantumania's Kang as being banished due to trying to go rogue from Doom's ultimate plan.

2. Doctor Doom was the root of the Multiversal War

He Who Remains mentioned in his big debut that at first his variants exchanged pleasantries and were lived in harmony. Sharing knowledge. Connecting. And then as time went on and other variants got involved, that's when the multiversal war broke out.

What if someone was pulling the strings to make this happen on purpose? What if a certain someone wanted his biggest competition in controlling the multiverse out of the picture, and did so by making him kill himself over and over by wiping out his own variants?

Someone as calculating and domineering as Victor Von Doom could easily play the long game by (after establishing multiversal travel of course), slipping from universe to universe, guiding each Kang variant in someway, tailoring him to want to be the only variant standing, and them BOOM...in comes the multiversal war.

To have Doom being the mastermind that effectively tricked every Kang, and took every single one for a fool, would be a pretty bold move, but one that would put him above in every single way.

3. Doom wipes out all Kangs in the opening of 'Avengers: Doomsday'

This would be a pretty cheap shot in my opinion, but it is always possible that Marvel may seek the quick and painless rip of the plaster to move on with Doctor Doom as the new big bad of the Multiverse Saga.

There is nothing to stop Avengers: Doomsday from opening on that arena we saw in the third 'Ant-Man' movie, with all of the Kang variants hyping each other up, and then Doom appears. One by one, he takes every single variant out before announcing who he is in some dark and ominous way as he kills the final one.

Like I said, it's a cheap and nasty way to get the job done, but it could happen unfortunately. The only downfall for it is that they would need Jonathan Majors' involvement to pull it off. Even if they wanted to use his image through AI or deepfakes, they need his permission. Majors has been vocal about his respect for Marvel, Kevin Feige etc. but to be asked back to effectively put the final nail in his character's coffin could be a sour affair.

4. Full retcon

Very, very unlikely. We can't see this coming. And shame on Marvel Studios if they went down this route. But let's dive into this for a moment.

With the Jonathan Majors issues and just wanting to move on from Kang, like we said before, they'll want the exchange to Doom to be quick and painless. We've just said about killing all Kangs in one sweep of the super villain brush, but what if it was even quicker. Like, so quick that we don't even see this guy ever again?

That's right. We need to entertain the idea. What if Marvel just done away with the Kang storyline they've been building for years and moved onto Doctor Doom straight away?

Maybe a throwaway comment about him or something, but what if they literally just moved into Doctor Doom as if Kang hadn't existed in the MCU since 2021?

Now the Russo Bros are smarter storytellers than that. So again, this is very unlikely. But the reality is we've seen Marvel make bad calls before, and given the circumstances, this could be something they stand their ground on. Though we hope they don't.

5. A recast

Still a bit of a cheap trick and still very unlikely, but it's always a possibility.

Ever since Jonathan Majors' firing, the internet has swirled around rumours of someone stepping in to fill the role of Kang instead. Names have been thrown around for who could portray The Conquerer after Majors' departure, such as Star Wars' John Boyega, Euphoria's Colman Domingo, and Snowfall's Damson Idris.

The big thing is, what would be the point at this juncture? Kang as a character has been shelved in favour of a more popular and threatening villain for the Marvel superheroes to go toe to toe with. So, would a recast for this character for potentially a small role really be worth it? Again, getting around it with AI or deepfakes may give it justification, but that would be Majors' call.

You've also got to admit, no matter what has gone on, that Majors' portrayal of each variant was electrifying, especially that scene-stealing He Who Remains performance.

6. Earlier divert

Now most are assuming that Doctor Doom will first step foot into the MCU in Doomsday, although there has been a lot of rumours of him appearing in Fantastic Four: First Steps as his debut.

This theory does seem quite plausable. Although he is a major threat in the Marvel comics, he is predominantly a Fantastic Four villain. With this being the last big MCU movie before we go into Doomsday, it works as the perfect timing to introduce him and hit the ground running in the next movie.

Where does that leave Kang? Well, remember that assume the first Kang variant to kick everything off was Franklin Richards, who is a descendant of Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic. There are also rumours of the movie's main villain, Galactus, wanting Franklin for something, which somehow brings him into the crosshairs of Marvel's first family.

Quick theory on this: could Franklin somehow be erased from history thanks to Galactus, which brings forth an even bigger villain who filled the gap in the timeline as the biggest threat in the multiverse? It's a solid theory, and could work nicely in overlapping Kang and Doom without them having to meet or be directly in connection with each other at all.

Time will tell on how the MCU "smartly" pivots from Kang to Doom, but we do have faith in Feige, The Russo Bros and all involved.

Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars which releases May 7, 2027.