I’m Worried Marvel’s Biggest New Villain Is Being Rushed in the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe became a phenomenon in entertainment by accomplishing the feat of building a slow-burning saga across multiple films and franchises. Of course, that arduous process that Kevin Feige and Co. pulled off only worked because it eventually arrived at an epic destination and delivered an equally epic payoff for years of dedication from fans. That “destination” was none other than Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Mad Titan who had been chasing six Infinity Stones needed to kill half the universe. There may never have been more hype and expectation for a villain’s arrival than Thanos, thanks to the years of buildup that preceded the character. But after Thanos, the MCU has never been that again – and now it’s officially a problem.

Marvel Studios released three movies in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four: First Steps. The only other solo film franchise dropping next is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and then we’re on into the climactic end to Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, with Avengers: Doomsday. That’s a movie title that highlights the key central villain of the film – a villain that we haven’t even really met yet.

Doom Doesn’t Even Go Here!

Robert Downey Jr. will play Doctor Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. While having RDJ onscreen in an MCU event film will be a welcome reunion for Avengers fans, the actual character he’s playing will be a total unknown to some viewers. Two previous versions of the Fantastic Four live-action films can’t be counted on as homework, and that brief button scene teaser at the end of Fantastic Four: First Steps didn’t do anything to really help prepare us for the MCU version of Doom.

For all intents and purposes, Doctor Doom won’t even be an official part of the MCU franchise before he becomes the titular lead of its biggest event film to date. Given how poorly the franchise has treated so many other MCU characters in the Multiverse Saga, it’s kind of a travesty to be giving a newcomer villain such a big spotlight. The same can, and is, being argued by Marvel Comics diehards who believe that Doom is a villain too grandiose to be rolled out this way.

Will Avengers: Doomsday Be A Compelling Enough Introduction Film?

The MCU can still pull off a hard launch of Doctor Doom this late in the game during the Multiverse Saga. While Thanos appeared numerous times before Avengers: Infinity War to foreshadow his overarching scheme and his influence on characters and events, we didn’t really get to know the villain until he fully stepped into the spotlight and had to deliver a full performance. It’s almost a parlor trick that Josh Brolin made Thanos so iconic over what only equates to about two films (Infinity War, half of Endgame, and his previous cameos combined). So really, Doctor Doom isn’t facing an impossible challenge.

The question is whether or not Marvel Studios has a story idea that will make Doomsday work for both the character of Doom and the massive cast of established MCU characters the film is already confirmed to be juggling. Again, it’s not impossible: Centering the film around Doom, and his quest to try to save his own universe – or at least some fragments of the multiverse – from incursion, as the Sacred Timeline’s unraveling finally reaches a critical breaking point. With Doom as our primary guide between dying universes, the film can give audiences plenty of layers and depth to the character with every stop, while helping fans understand the scale of his will and power via his interactions with various versions of MCU heroes (and villains).

Presuming the movie ends with only Doom left holding the strands of existence together, then there is a certain amount of synchronicity in having his beginning in the franchise be the end of the franchise as we know it. The man is named “Doom,” after all. But again: this is a massive risk. There are a lot of MCU characters (and actors who have egos) that could get massively shortchanged in Doomsday, if Doom and a few key others (The Fantastic Four, the Fox X-Men crew) are the ones getting the majority of the screen time. So even if the villain gets a great launchpad, it could come at just as great a cost.

Could Avengers: Doomsday Launch One of the Best Villain Arcs Ever?

There are a lot of fans, like me, who are viewing the approach to introducing Doom this suddenly as a major red flag – but that’s not necessarily the case. There’s an argument to be made that Doom will differ from Thanos in one key area: he won’t be a flash-in-the-pan big bad who is ultimately killed off after Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Many of us expect that when the MCU goes through a hard reboot after the Multiverse Saga, Doom will be a prominent figure in the new MCU prime timeline that will bring various realities (and wayward Marvel franchises) under one roof for the first time.

Doom deserves a bigger arc of development in the MCU – most fans would agree with that. So if Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars are indeed just introductions to the villain, before he takes on a permanent role in Phase 7, then what looks like a “rushed” introduction now could end up looking like one of the greatest character launches ever, in hindsight.

Those are high stakes to meet – but then again, everything about Avengers: Doomsday feels high stakes, at this point. The film will be released in theaters on December 18, 2026.

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