It’s Time To Accept the MCU Will Never Replace Thanos (& RDJ’s Doom Confirms It)

Who will be the MCU‘s next Thanos? That has been one of the biggest questions facing Marvel since Avengers: Endgame. And, in truth, it existed before Thanos was even gone, because “what’s next?” is always at the heart of discussion surrounding the MCU, something that Marvel Studios knows and has consistently leveraged with its post-credits scenes. And so, with the Mad Titan being the villain who defined the first three phases of the MCU and was at the center of its biggest event movies, it’s inevitable the question would be asked – both internally and externally.

Much like the quest to find what’s next after the Infinity Saga led to the Multiverse Saga, there’s been a clear search for the new Thanos. For a while, Marvel had seemingly identified that character with Kang the Conqueror, before Jonathan Majors’ firing, alongside some box office disappointments, led to a major pivot. And where did that lead them? Back to Robert Downey Jr., only this time as Doctor Doom. Only time will tell if he can be a great villain in Avengers: Doomsday, but it should already be clear that he won’t be the new Thanos, and nor will anybody else.

The MCU Pulled Off A Miracle With Thanos

It’s worth taking a step back to appreciate just how impressive a feat the MCU pulled off with Thanos. To tease a villain across multiple movies, and still be able to not only deliver on those plans, but make it the franchise’s very best villain despite all the hype, is quite astonishing. Marvel is (or was) known for its careful planning, though things were never quite as fixed as they appeared – the late addition of Spider-Man, the cancellation of the Inhumans movie, and pivoting Captain America 3 into being Civil War are all testament to that.

That just further shows how much had to go right to even get to the stage where they could use Thanos as they’d intended. It required multiple movies to be hits, and a gradual progression of the overarching Infinity Stones storyline throughout. Once they got there, they had to make him powerful enough that you believe he could wield the Gauntlet and destroy half the universe, and compelling enough that there’s an actual reason why. Somehow, all of that coalesced into an all-time great superhero movie villain across both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, when it could’ve gone wrong at so many different turns.

None Of Kang, Galactus, Or Doom Are The New Thanos

Fast-forward to Phases 4-6 (with the latter still in its infancy), and those things have started to go wrong. The MCU’s veneer of infallibility has been removed, its reputation a little tarnished, and there has not yet been anything that’s captured attention in the same way the tease of Thanos did. In part, this is because plans fell apart due to external circumstances, but even before then, Kang was not shaping up to be as exciting a villain as Thanos. He was defeated by Ant-Man in his first movie, after all.

The overarching story was a little more scattered and nebulous, rather than the throughline of the Infinity Stones (which weren’t even directly in that many movies, but were linked enough that you got a clear sense of what it was building to). That’s why the MCU has been able to shift away from Kang fairly easily, without any impact on its movie releases in 2024 and 2025, with, of course, the exception of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars being delayed and retooled. But Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, while all having their own flaws, carry no sign of being hurt by the changes.

The change from The Kang Dynasty to Doomsday for Avengers 5 itself isn’t that jarring a shift, even if it causes clear issues as the movie shoots with a script that’s still being written. But just as it means Kang can no longer be the Thanos replacement, nor will Doctor Doom. Sure, he could be powerful enough, but will it be compelling enough?

Doom is not going to be a villain that’s built up to in the same way, because the only setup is The Fantastic Four‘s post-credits scene. It’s not even the same as Thanos appearing in The Avengers and then being the major villain of, say, Age of Ultron, because at least that’s still a debut in an Avengers movie. It’s more like if we didn’t get Thanos until a post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy, and then he was the Avengers villain, with nothing in between.

That doesn’t mean Doom can’t be great, but the anticipation of seeing Thanos, the years of expectation, hype, theories, and setup, all went into what made the Mad Titan such a memorable big bad. None of that exists anymore, and it probably never will; notably, any hype for Doom relies more on the stunt casting, rather than what the movies are doing. The MCU has changed too much in how it operates, with disparate parts that don’t feel aligned, and characters taking too long to return after they debut.

We’ll get a one-two punch of Doom in 2026 and 2027, and then he’ll be gone – or at least, the Downey Jr. version will be. Galactus may or may not return, but he’s already been defeated once anyway. There is no looming villain where they can repeat what they did with Thanos, and it’s probably best not to hope for it to happen.

Does The MCU Even Need A Thanos Replacement?

Is the MCU not having a Thanos replacement really such a bad thing? Certainly, in terms of audience expectations, it’s not great. The MCU has conditioned fans to want that level of setup and payoff, which is something it can no longer guarantee. And in terms of wanting things to be as they were, where everyone is madly excited not just for the latest movie, but for what’s coming 3-4 years down the line, it would be very helpful.

But Marvel is at a place where, more than anything, it needs to be focused on making quality movies and regaining more of the audience’s trust. Thunderbolts* was a very good MCU movie, and it’s one of the lowest-grossing outings in the franchise. Avengers: Doomsday will be big, but it needs to prove it can still deliver consistent quality outside of that, especially in the “smaller” movies. Of course, feeling like they’re part of a bigger whole would help, but not as much as just making good movies will. And, yes, that means good, compelling, powerful villains – whether they’ll ever return or not.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be the next MCU movie, swinging into theaters on July 31st, 2026. That’ll be followed by Avengers: Doomsday on December 18th, 2026, then Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17th, 2027.

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