Avengers: Doomsday Coffee Shop Menu Hints at a Comic Accurate Doctor Doom Origin

A menu from a Russo brothers coffee shop popup for Avengers: Doomsday was filled with Easter eggs that might point to Doctor Doom's actual MCU origin. If this is really what they're doing, I really like it, because I think it's 100% necessary. New promos also revealed a lot, including a new Latverian flag that has a lot of people thinking Doom might not be from the Fantastic Four's universe. I have my own theory about that, which I'll get to below.

The Russo brothers' SXSW London tease led to a coffee shop, not a trailer

The disappointing part was that the Russo brothers had been teasing that something was going to happen, and in the end nothing really happened. What they opened was a popup coffee shop themed around Doom and Avengers: Doomsday. There was no trailer, though I didn't really think there was going to be one. I thought it was kind of weird that they were teasing something so specific for SXSW London, complete with an address.

It was an interesting move, and a lot of people were really upset, because the teasing was so public. At the same time, the Russos were kind of just using the platform they have to say that if you were at SXSW, there was a little surprise for you. They never said it was a trailer. They did kind of hint that it would be something big, though, and they know everyone is just waiting for the trailer.

Fortunov on the menu points straight to Doctor Doom's comic origin

The coolest thing to come out of it, I think, was the menu. It was literally a coffee menu, but it was riddled with Easter eggs, which is something I really like and something the Russo brothers do very well. The items carried names tied to Latveria and Doom's history, including a Fortunov single espresso, a Rapprochement hot latte, Cynthia's Blend, a Zefiro flat white and a Hassenstadt dark Americano. Each of these means something very specific to Doctor Doom's origin.

Starting at the top, Fortunov was the ruler of Latveria before Doom, and the reference goes even deeper. King Vladimir Fortunov ruled Latveria when Doom and his family lived there. The king called on Doom's father, Werner Von Doom, a healer, to cure his wife of cancer. He was unsuccessful, the king's wife died, and the king became very ruthless. Werner took Victor and had to flee the country.

Years later, after everything that happened to his family, from his mother's death to fleeing with his father and then his father's death, Victor gathers an army of followers, goes back to Latveria, and dethrones the king, killing him. This is really cool because, one, it's telling us a big part of Doom's comic origin, and two, it hopefully means that origin is actually going to be in the film.

The Rapprochement may hint at a truce between Doom and Reed Richards

The next one is the Rapprochement. In the comics it can refer to a Latverian holiday, but I think people are missing that it can also refer to a prominent truce or peace agreement between Doctor Doom and Reed Richards. I think that's something we're kind of getting in Avengers: Doomsday.

It seems like Doom knows the Fantastic Four from the past, but I still think he has that rivalry with Reed and doesn't really like him. I think he likes Sue and he likes Franklin, and that's it. I think he doesn't get along with the Thing, Johnny or Reed. I like that because it sticks to the comics, and I'm one of the people who think all of this is very important. I do think the MCU needs to stick with these comic origins.

So if the Russo brothers are actually teasing something here, which I do think they are, this tells me that Doom does have a feud with Reed, but he's kind of putting it to the side.

Cynthia, the Zefiro clan and Hassenstadt fill in the rest of Doom's backstory

Cynthia's Blend is a reference to Cynthia Von Doom, Victor's mother, who is basically tricked by Mephisto and ends up dying. She tries to help her people and her son, but she dies. Again, I think all of this is really important to his origin.

The Zefiro name refers to the Zefiro clan, Romani natives who were persecuted by the king. It's the clan of Doom's mother, Cynthia, and it's also the source of the followers who go back with Doom and overthrow the king. Lots of hints toward his origin there.

The last one is Hassenstadt, the name of Latveria's capital before Doom's takeover. When Doom took over, he renamed it Doomstadt to dedicate it to his mother. All of this points to Doctor Doom having a very comic accurate origin in the MCU, which I'm really here for. If they stick to that, the next step should be him going to America for college and ending up as roommates with Reed Richards, which I think is exactly how they should do it.

A new Latverian flag looks like the rune Doom showed in Shanghai

A lot more promo art arrived for Avengers: Doomsday, and one of the biggest things people noticed was a new Latverian flag. The flag from The Fantastic Four: First Steps looks similar, but it's not the same. The emblem in the middle is different from the two emblems on the two new flags.

One seems to just be a logo for Latveria, which is very different from the First Steps flag, a pretty comic accurate flag, I would say. The other looks like the symbol of a rune that Doctor Doom is going to use. We actually saw that symbol in the light show for Avengers: Doomsday in Shanghai, and it looks exactly the same. That shows Doom is going to be using a lot of magic, which I really can't wait for.

Fans questioned whether Doom is from the 828 universe, but I think he is

Because these flags differ from what appeared in First Steps, some people think Doom might not actually be from that 828 universe. I think he is. When I put the question to fans, one said they wouldn't mind Doom coming from a different universe, but it makes more sense if he's from the Fantastic Four universe. I agree, it does make more sense.

Another fan had a feeling Doom might be from the 838 universe if he isn't from the Fantastic Four's. I really like that idea, because that's the universe with the Doombots and the Illuminati. We still don't have an answer for who was supposed to fill that empty chair among the Illuminati, so maybe it was Doom.

One fan wrote, "I think Doom is still from the F4 universe, but he just came up with a new Latverian flag from a different universe because as recent rumors said, he will have a wife and kid from a different universe, so maybe that's the flag he uses in that universe." That's exactly what I think. I think Doom is from the 828 universe, but he goes and lives a pretty decent life in another universe, and maybe he established himself as a Latverian ruler there. Maybe it's a little more advanced, or just a little different, and that's his flag from the other universe. He might have done that more than once.

Another fan argued Doom not being in the same universe would be conflicting, since First Steps teased that Doom was present during the conference scene. I think they did tease that he's there. He wasn't physically present, since they showed us the empty seat, but I think that was a big tease that Doom is from that universe. Then the scene after the credits showed Doom appearing at the Fantastic Four's building, basically telling us he's familiar with them and knows them. A few fans also felt the Spider-Man trailer should come first. At the time, they were doing all the promotions for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

One more fan liked the theory of Doom being from the 31st century, a fully built up Doom, which would leave room for a younger Doom to replace Robert Downey Jr. in the future. I kind of like that. Maybe this Doom is from the future and there's a Victor Von Doom currently somewhere in the MCU. I think that makes things a little complicated with our Fantastic Four, though, if they're going to say our Fantastic Four knows this Doctor Doom. Who knows?

"Richards was wrong" could point to a multiverse argument from college

At the coffee shop, the Russo brothers also had the words "Richards was wrong" on the board. I think this might point to something between Reed Richards and Doctor Doom, maybe something they talked about in college. Maybe Doom was talking about the multiverse and Reed tried to tell him it's not what he thinks.

Then Doom actually goes out into the multiverse and discovers that Reed was wrong and he was right. That would, one, fuel the rivalry, which I really like, and two, lead to more hate between them, because Doom can say this is all happening because Reed didn't listen, that it's all his fault and Doom tried to warn him. That's a very Doctor Doom thing to do.

New promos show Doom wearing a hammer and a star, and universes colliding

The new promos gave more looks at Doom's armor, which I think is really cool. One shows Doom in the middle alongside the Thing, Falcon, who is the old Falcon and Captain America now, Thor, Yelena Belova and Cyclops, teasing some of the main characters. Another gives a better look at Doom's mask, which I really like. In it he still has emblems on his chest of Thor's hammer and Captain Marvel's star, which I find very interesting because I really do think he might be taking their powers.

Another promo shows the Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers logos crashing into each other like incursions. I believe this is how the movie ends, with all of the universes crashing into each other, and I think that's how most people think it will end too. There's also a promo that looks like a comic cover carrying the Latverian flag with the magical rune emblem. Doom's suit looks awesome in that one, from the shoulders to the extra armor on his wrists and the shin pads.

Then there are all the new Avengers: Doomsday products, from socks to keychains to what looks like maybe a lunchbox to suspenders. The big focus is on the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Wakandans and Doctor Doom, but really the big clash between the Avengers, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. I'm pretty sure Wakanda and Talokan are pretty much being lumped in with the Avengers, since they're from the same type of universe. These promos look really cool to me, and they showed Marvel ramping things up for Avengers: Doomsday.

Do you think Doctor Doom comes from the Fantastic Four's universe or from somewhere else in the multiverse?