When Marvel Studios announced the Avengers: Doomsday cast back in March, the four-hour video ended with chairs for Pedro Pascal and Robert Downey Jr. That led many fans to hope that the Russo Brothers were teasing plans for Mister Fantastic and Doctor Doom's relationship to be a big part of this story.
Victor Von Doom appeared in The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene, but as far as we're aware, Downey's Doom Variant has no history with Earth-828's version of Marvel's First Family.
That's come as a major disappointment to many comic book fans, and Avengers: Doomsday potentially being where this team first encounters Doom leaves a lot of great material on the page. Nothing is confirmed on that front, of course, and this new rumour may frustrate many of you.
According to leaker @variablelace, most of Avengers: Doomsday will revolve around Doctor Doom vs. Steve Rogers/Captain America. Later, scooper @MyTimeToShineH weighed in to say, "[Downey] and [Chris] Evans weren’t even going to be part of The Kang Dynasty, and now they’re not only back but will be the main focus of Doomsday" (various other sources have backed them up, as you can see below).
Based on previous rumours, Doom will arrive on Earth-616 looking to make Steve pay for travelling back in time to get his happy ending with Peggy Carter at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Apparently, messing with the timeline to that extent caused the Incursion that not only destroyed Doom's world, but perhaps even set off a chain reaction destined to end with the Multiverse's demise. Fans have spent years saying they wanted to see what happened to Cap at the end of Avengers: Endgame, and Doomsday will seemingly fulfil that wish.
It coming at the cost of Doom's rivalry with Reed Richards is bound to be an issue for some, and it may not be the only Fantastic Four-related let-down. We've heard chatter that, in Avengers: Doomsday, at least, there will be no Spider-Man/Human Torch action.
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.
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.