Summary
- Robert Downey Jr. will reportedly debut as Doctor Doom in Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot before playing a key role in two Avengers movies.
- Characters like Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and the Hulk could potentially defeat Doctor Doom in Avengers: Secret Wars.
- The MCU may see emotional face-offs, including Spider-Man vs. Doctor Doom, in the Multiverse Saga’s finale.
Only a few Avengers could be able to take down Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom when Avengers: Secret Wars rolls around. After being the main character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than a decade, Downey left Iron Man behind in order to return to the franchise as Doctor Doom. This comes as Marvel moves away from Kang the Conqueror after Jonathan Majors was fired from the MCU.
Downey will reportedly appear in a mid/post-credits scene in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, making his debut as Doctor Doom before playing a key role in two announced Avengers movies. Avengers: Doomsday‘s story is being designed around the character, with the fifth Avengers movie having been originally titled The Kang Dynasty. Like Thanos, Doom is likely to win against the Avengers in his first fight with the heroes, but some characters could beat the villain in 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
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10 Captain Marvel
The MCU’s Powerhouse
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While The Marvels has become the lowest-grossing film in MCU history, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel should remain a big part of the next two Avengers movies. The character is deeply connected to the franchise’s overall multiverse story, as The Marvels ended with Monica Rambeau trapped in another universe. Captain Marvel is looking for a way to get her back, and that could put her on a collision course with RDJ’s Doctor Doom, who will likely come from another universe.
A Captain Marvel fight with Doctor Doom in Avengers: Secret Wars could be one of the MCU’s best. Carol Danvers is extremely powerful, perhaps even the most powerful character in the MCU. She had the upper hand in her fight with Thanos in Avengers: Endgame before he used the Infinity Stones. Under normal circumstances, Captain Marvel could take down Doctor Doom.
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9 Doctor Strange
A Magic User To Test Doctor Doom
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Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange’s fight with Doctor Doom should also be coming in Avengers: Secret Wars. Differently from Captain Marvel, there will be a personal component to the fight, as Strange spent a lot of time with RDJ’s Iron Man in Avengers: Infinity War and was the only one to know Tony Stark had to sacrifice himself for the heroes to win in Avengers: Endgame. As such, there should be some underlying guilt when Doctor Strange fights Doctor Doom.
Power-wise, Doctor Strange is one of the MCU’s most versatile characters. His magic skills are vast, with the hero giving Thanos a hard time in Avengers: Infinity War, even with the Mad Titan’s use of different Infinity Stones in one of the MCU’s best fights ever. Since Doctor Doom’s armor is usually enchanted with magic, and he has learned it in the comics, Strange would have to fight hard.
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8 Hulk
Pure Strength Vs Subterfuge
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Doctor Doom is bound to fight at least one of the MCU’s original Avengers when he debuts, and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is one of the strongest characters in the franchise, making for a fantastic battle if they go one-on-one. The characters have not really crossed paths in the comics all that much, but a major Marvel Comics fight shows that the Hulk could take down Doctor Doom rather easily.
Maestro, an evil version of the Hulk, was able to strip Victor von Doom of his armor in the comics. Without it, the Hulk severely beat the villain. Since Ruffalo’s Hulk shares Bruce Banner’s intelligence in his current Smart Hulk form, that could be how he takes out Doom in Avengers: Secret Wars. Alternatively, the mix of the Hulk’s brawn and Banner’s brains in a straight-up fight with Doom might overpower the villain.
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7 Thor
The Avenger Has A New Purpose
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Thor is another one of the original members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that RDJ’s Doctor Doom could face in Avengers: Secret Wars. The last two Avengers movies saw Thor at the peak of his power in the MCU after unlocking his inner God of Thunder might in Thor: Ragnarok. That could be repeated in the next two Avengers movies, with Thor now fighting more viciously.
That could happen for two reasons. First, Thor did not take Thanos out when they first met, even though he had the chance, which led to the villain winning and Thor feeling a guilt he never wants to again. Secondly, Thor is now a father to the young Love, which means he has to fight for all the people in the multiverse, but more importantly, for the life of his daughter. A fully unleashed Thor at the end of Avengers: Secret Wars could prove too much for Doctor Doom to handle.
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6 Sue Storm
A Long-Time Doctor Doom Enemy
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps will finally bring Marvel’s First Family to the MCU. The movie will also reportedly see the debut of RDJ’s Doctor Doom, which could mean the characters come from the same alternate universe, later finding a way to Earth-616. Since the Fantastic Four’s main villain is Doctor Doom, that dynamic is likely to be repeated in the MCU. As such, a member of the team could be the one to take out Victor von Doom.
Avengers: Secret Wars could see RDJ’s Doctor Doom come face to face with Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm. The Invisible Woman’s powers have been greatly downplayed in her previous live-action appearances so far, but the MCU could finally do her justice. Sue’s powers expand beyond invisibility, with her ability to project force fields being perfect to separate Doom from his armor and take him down.
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5 Scarlet Witch
A Multiverse Expert And Powerhouse
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As it currently stands, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch is dead. However, given the character’s enormous popularity and Olsen’s desire to return to the role, Wanda Maximoff will more likely than not be in one or both of the next two Avengers movies. As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness showed, the Scarlet Witch is one of the biggest opponents any MCU character could face.
In the movie, she made short work of a mix of powerful and resourceful heroes that included characters like Black Bolt, Professor X, Reed Richards, and more. Wanda almost always had the upper hand in magic fights with Doctor Strange, which means Doom’s magic would be most likely powerless against her. Additionally, the Scarlet Witch nearly took out Thanos by herself in Avengers: Endgame, only stopped by the Mad Titan’s giant ship raining down artillery.
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4 Loki
The Protector Of The Multiverse
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Another magic user whose powers should prove too great for RDJ’s Doctor Doom to beat in Avengers: Secret Wars is Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. While Loki was killed with no effort by Thanos at the start of Avengers: Infinity War, the variant of the character that is alive in the MCU achieved new heights. Loki is now the protector of the multiverse, serving as the MCU’s God of Stories.
Since Loki is tasked with safeguarding the multiverse, a threat at the level of Downey’s Doctor Doom will have to face him. The character’s magic is at the strongest it has ever been, with Loki literally holding the strands of the multiverse in place. Hiddleston’s reformed villain is also extremely resourceful, with plenty of tricks from his past as the God of Mischief, which makes him one of the best hopes against Doctor Doom in Avengers: Secret Wars.
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3 Spider-Man
An Emotional Face-Off
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Tom Holland’s Spider-Man fighting Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom is bound to be one of the most emotional moments in the MCU. Peter Parker saw RDJ’s Tony Stark as a father figure, so having the hero go up against the villain who has Stark’s face — and could potentially be an Iron Man variant — will be heartbreaking. After Spider-Man: No Way Home, it is firmly established that Spider-Man can be a vicious fighter when angry.
If it were not for Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, Holland’s Spidey would have brutally beaten Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin to death at the end of the film. Avengers: Secret Wars could bring back that kind of rage for a massive fight between Spider-Man and Doctor Doom. If Avengers: Doomsday ends with the heroes losing, as is expected, that and RDJ being the face of Doctor Doom could bring out the vicious Spider-Man, and with his strength and versatile powers, the web-slinger could take out Doom.
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2 Reed Richards
Doctor Doom’s Biggest Rival
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Like Sue Storm, there is another member of the Fantastic Four who could be the one to defeat Doctor Doom. Marvel’s First Family is confirmed to appear in both upcoming Avengers movies, and if 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars follows the comics, Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards should be the film’s most important hero. In 2015’s Secret Wars from Marvel Comics, Mr. Fantastic is the one to create the new multiverse after Doctor Doom’s Battleworld plans fall through.
The MCU could follow a similar path, with Reed and Doom fighting a violent battle in this version of the story. Reed and Doom have fought countless times in the comics, with each winning their fair share of encounters. Thanks to his stretchy abilities and genius-level intellect, Pascal’s Reed Richards could end up outsmarting Doom, leading to the hero’s victory.
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1 Iron Man
RDJ Fights RDJ
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Finally, Marvel could have Robert Downey Jr. pull double duty in Avengers: Secret Wars, playing Doctor Doom and Iron Man. That does not mean that the MCU’s Tony Stark should be resurrected, as Downey could just play a multiverse variant of the character. After all, Avengers: Secret Wars should include the biggest cast of any superhero movie, with MCU and multiverse heroes and villains involved.
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The chance of having RDJ back as Tony Stark one more time before the rumored MCU reboot post-Secret Wars is too good to pass. Iron Man has shown in his time in the MCU to be perhaps the franchise’s most resourceful character. Tony’s Iron Man armor could be even more advanced in Avengers: Secret Wars, perhaps impervious to magic, courtesy of Doctor Strange. With his intellect, suit, and versatility, Iron Man could defeat Doctor Doom and save the day in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Avengers: Secret Wars
Avengers: Secret Wars is the sixth Avengers film and takes place during phase six of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. The film will see several heroes from the prior phases return and battle against a cosmic threat to rival Thanos, and borrows elements of the Marvel Comics event of the same name.
Release Date May 7, 2027