Original plans called for Avengers: Doomsday to be titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. In that version of the movie, Earth's Mightiest Heroes were set to assemble for a battle with Kang and his Variants in another Multiversal War.
Marvel Studios abandoned the time-travelling villain after actor Jonathan Majors' legal troubles and the mixed response to Kang the Conqueror's portrayal in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. The decision was then made to pivot to Doctor Doom, and Robert Downey Jr. was cast to play him fresh off his Oscar win for Oppenheimer.
Despite a brief appearance in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Doomsday will be the first time we meet the MCU's Doom. He won't have a history with Marvel's First Family—not an on-screen one, at least—and hasn't encountered Earth-616's Avengers before.
We still don't know what world Victor Von Doom is from, but scooper @MyTimeToShineH has just shared some surprising, potentially controversial details on the character's backstory.
"Doom's family died in an explosion that also left his body damaged," the insider writes, teasing a bold new take on Doom in Avengers: Doomsday next December.
Fans of the comic will know that Doom's face was scarred when he built a device meant to help him rescue his mother's soul from hell. Reed Richards attempted to offer his college classmate some advice, which Doom ignored (still, he blamed Reed for the accident, creating a bitter rivalry).
It's not that surprising to see Marvel Studios make some changes to the character's past, but Doom's entire body being injured—likely meaning he needs his suit to survive—feels a little Iron Man-inspired. This Doom Variant having lost his family promises to make him a somewhat sympathetic figure, too, which could divide opinions.
We've known for a while that Downey is heavily involved in creating a backstory for Doom, as filmmaker Joe Russo previously said, "He is so immersed in it. He is so dialed in. He’s writing backstory, costume ideas… We were just on the phone with him this morning before we got here talking about it. He just loves really rich three-dimensional characters. He sees a real opportunity here with the character."
In related news, if you've seen this Avengers: Doomsday promo art floating around on social media, we can confirm that it's 100% fake...
Avengers: Doomsday officially stars Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman all make their Avengers franchise debuts in the movie.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Ryan Reynolds are also set to appear, according to reports from the trades (if we listed the rumoured cast members here, we'd run out of space).
The Russo Brothers direct the movie from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness's Michael Waldron is also working on the script.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.