Why I Think Doctor Doom Is Playing Everyone in Avengers: Doomsday

At the time I wrote this, ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, I believed we were going to get the perfect Doctor Doom: a Doom so powerful and so smart that he's really just messing with everyone in the movie. My reasoning came from what the Russo brothers, Robert Downey Jr., and Kevin Feige had said, plus what we'd heard from leaks.

Later in this piece I'll get to the leaked image of Doom on a throne with Sue Storm at his side, and why I think it shows exactly where this story ends.

I Don't Think Doctor Doom Is Really Trying to Save the Multiverse in Avengers: Doomsday

We had heard a lot of reports and leaks about the plot of Avengers: Doomsday, and a lot of them made it seem like Doctor Doom is originally trying to save the multiverse. In that version, he looks like a good guy until the final events happen and everybody ends up fighting him.

I don't think that's the case at all, at least not to the full extent that people think. I think we get a full-on crazy, evil, truly vindictive God Emperor Doom. Maybe a long time ago he was trying to save the multiverse, but not in Avengers: Doomsday. He just wants it all under him. He wants to rule it. In fact, I think he's actively going to be trying to get it destroyed.

The Russo Brothers Say Doom Is Always Three Steps Ahead

The Russo brothers, Kevin Feige, and Robert Downey Jr. had talked a lot about Doctor Doom. The Russos said he is three steps ahead of everyone at all points in time. Leaked images of him playing chess with Avengers pieces literally show him being moves ahead of them, and to me they show that Doom really is manipulating and orchestrating everything that is happening.

Those leaked scenes show us that Doom is in charge. Things are happening exactly how he wants them to happen, so whatever happens in Doomsday, it's according to his plan. The Russo brothers also said that Victor Von Doom is one of the most complex villains, and that he's always three moves ahead, which makes him virtually unbeatable.

I think most people believed that, much like Thanos won in Infinity War, Doctor Doom is going to win. The Avengers aren't going to win. Doom is, which results in Battleworld and Secret Wars, and basically a new universe that Doom rules over.

Joe Russo Says Robert Downey Jr. Pitched Playing the Ultimate Villain

In an interview with Deadline, Joe Russo said that Robert Downey Jr. brought up the idea of playing Doctor Doom. "I was at dinner with him and he mentioned that he was thinking about this," Russo said. The concept was for Downey to play the ultimate villain: he played the ultimate hero, and now he would play the ultimate villain. Russo said he thought it was a very clever idea.

The phrase that stands out to me is the ultimate villain. Not just any villain, but the ultimate villain. This is going to be the opposite of Tony Stark at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

Why I Believe Doom Was Missing From The Fantastic Four: First Steps

So if Doom is three moves ahead, why is he seeking help from the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and the X-Men? I think that's just part of Doom messing with everybody, literally. I believe Doom has been trying to save the multiverse, and I think that's why he wasn't in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

They showed that empty chair for Latveria for a reason: to show that he exists in that world, but he's absent. So why wasn't Doom there, as the leader of Latveria, when his entire world was threatened with destruction by Galactus and the Silver Surfer? I believe it's because he was out somewhere in the multiverse.

If Doctor Doom had been there, and the Fantastic Four were the reason his Earth was about to be destroyed, he'd be up in their business, specifically Reed's, blaming Reed for everything and telling him that he needs to fix it. But he wasn't there. I believe he's been in the multiverse, he's already done things to try to save it, and he's failed. The Doom we meet in Doomsday isn't new to incursions or the multiverse. He knows the only thing to do now is to let it collapse and harness the power to rebuild it the way he wants, and he's been getting that power.

Thor's Warning and Reports That Doom Beats Thor With Ease

That's why, I think, Thor says this about him in the trailer that was shown at CinemaCon, as we've heard it described: "I have fought with many warriors in my time. They were far stronger than any of us combined and they died. They died facing enemies and threats that scared me far less than this one."

When the gloves come off and Doom's true intentions are revealed, I think they'll truly show how powerful he is. Honestly, that was something I was kind of worried about. I want the sorcery, I want the intellect, I want the power. It seemed like that's what we were getting, because according to accounts of the CinemaCon trailer, he defeats Thor with ease. It reportedly showed Thor jumping at Doom with Stormbreaker, and Doom just blocking it with one hand.

We had also heard reports that he destroys the entire TVA, that he kills Loki, and that he kills Steve's son.

The Reported Backstory: Doom Lost His Family and Blames Captain America

Here's the thing about Doom in Avengers: Doomsday: I think he's literally going to get everything he wants by the end of it. Part of it maybe started with him trying to save the multiverse, but then it became about revenge and control and, of course, with Doctor Doom, a little bit of pettiness.

From what we'd heard, Doom has indeed traveled the multiverse. He met a woman, married her, and had a child. Some reports even say she is a variant of Sue Storm from a different universe. Then an incursion threatened whatever world he was on, which makes sense because he's not supposed to be in that universe. We learned in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki that if a person from one universe goes into another, that starts an incursion, pulling that universe toward where the person is.

As the reported story goes, he tried to build a machine to stop the incursion, but it went wrong and exploded, killing his wife and child and scarring him so badly that he needs his mask, suit, and armor to survive. Doom doesn't blame himself, though. He blames Captain America and other heroes, and now he seeks revenge on those who have what he can no longer have: Reed, Steve, and basically the entire multiverse. If Doom can't have his happy ending, no one can, until he rewrites everything the way he wants.

Leaks Show Doom on a Throne With Sue Storm in Avengers: Secret Wars

I think Doom will get revenge for his family and for the universe he was in, and he's going to take it out on Captain America and Reed Richards. He will get the exact world and universe he wants, including Sue Storm as his wife.

We have leaks for Avengers: Secret Wars that are real; they're confirmed to be real. They show Doom on the throne, Sue Storm by his side and Doctor Strange on the other side, and Sue Storm is there with Franklin. That's his wife and his son in this new world. The leaks also mentioned, and Robert Downey Jr. has said himself, that he has been working very deeply with Vanessa Kirby. To me that's further proof this is happening: Doom gets what he wants, and that includes Sue Storm.

Doom's way isn't just ruling the world. It's about everyone being and behaving exactly the way he wants. That's why in the comics he has the Thor Corps and Doctor Strange. On Battleworld there are different sections, each ruled by one person, and all of them report to Doom. There's an actual court, and sometimes Doom doesn't really talk because he is the god. Doctor Strange even says, "I am the judge unless the god himself steps in with his words." In Secret Wars, he does step in.

Alex Perez Reports That Doom Will Wield Chaos Magic

I think in the movies it's going to be a little bit different. Based on what we'd heard, I think he's going to use chaos magic to control people and actually build the universe, and specifically to control everybody the way Wanda did in WandaVision.

The report about this from Alex Perez says Doom will wield a power that only two people in the MCU had wielded so far: Wanda and her son Billy, also known as Wiccan. That power is chaos magic. So in this version, Doom creates his world through chaos magic. But regardless of how it happens, Doom is going to control the new universe he creates, crushing anyone who stands in his way, which I think is ultimately what happens at the end of Avengers: Doomsday.

How I Think Doom Turns the Avengers and the X-Men Against Each Other

Up until the Avengers realize Doom is the villain, I think he's really just messing with everybody, playing chess and making them do exactly what he wants. That's why he goes to the Avengers' universe and essentially tells them there's a universe out there destroying other universes, meaning the X-Men's, and that they need to get rid of it. He makes them fight each other and take themselves out, until they realize he's the actual villain.

While they're doing this, he goes back to Latveria and to his army and prepares for battle. Then everybody goes up against him, and he still wins. At the end of it all, from what we're hearing, he has followers like Strange and Wanda. He uses a combination of different powers to create Battleworld, essentially a new universe that he rules, made from a bunch of different universes. He probably has the ability to do that because he goes through Loki as well.

So I think Doctor Doom is going to be a savage in Avengers: Doomsday, not just a brute force physical savage but a mental one as well. I expect them to show all the great sides of Doom: how smart he is and how powerful he is. I personally couldn't wait. I think this is the Doom we absolutely need and deserve, and I really do think Robert Downey Jr. is the perfect person to play him.

Do you think Doctor Doom was ever truly trying to save the multiverse?