Leaked Art May Show Doctor Doom's Lieutenants in Avengers: Secret Wars

This could be one of the most surprising leaks we've gotten for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars so far. If this leaked image is legitimate, it appears to show Doctor Doom's inner circle on Battleworld, and it involves what I think is Doctor Strange's grand plan in all of this.

Take it with a grain of salt. We're not sure if this is real or not, and there's no confirmation from Marvel either way. Still, if it holds up, it lines up with what we've been hearing about why the ending of Doomsday is supposed to be darker than Avengers: Infinity War.

The leak could be part of the earlier Secret Wars concept art showing Strange beside Doom

We know Strange is going to be on Doom's side, but eventually I think he is going to flip on him. I think it just makes sense. This new piece is leaked concept art, and we've gotten leaked concept art for Avengers: Secret Wars before, so this could be a part of that same batch.

Most people will remember those earlier images: Doctor Doom on his throne, with Strange to his side. That's a big part of the story. Doctor Strange is going to be on the side of Doctor Doom.

Doom needs lieutenants to keep Battleworld in order, with Sheriff Strange in charge

This image seems to show Doom's lieutenants, his chiefs, the leaders of his force. It's not just going to be a case of Doom winning, building a castle, and everything being fine. He has to keep everything in order. Just because the people on Battleworld don't remember the past doesn't mean they'll behave, and it doesn't mean everyone is going to sit there and worship God Emperor Doom.

So he has Sheriff Strange, just like he does in the comics. Strange is his right-hand man and he's in charge of a lot. In the comics, Doom also has the Thor Corps, which acts as his police force and keeps everybody in order. Sheriff Strange is the person in charge, and he's going to have people under him. The image shows some interesting characters there, which I'll go through from right to left.

I think Clea has been working for Doom the entire time

First is Clea. I have predicted from the very beginning that Clea would be there, well, at least until Marvel decided to use Doom instead of Kang. I think she might have been working for Kang before, but now I think she has been working for Doom the entire time. I think Doom probably sent her to get Doctor Strange at the end of Multiverse of Madness. Probably a trap, but not even necessarily.

I've said this before, but I do think Doctor Strange wants some type of redemption. I think he realizes he has caused some incursions, the multiverse is headed down a path they can't stop, and Doom is the only way. So it might not even be a trap. Clea may just be taking Strange to Doom so Doom can show him what he has done, tell him he's trying to fix it and save something, and ask whether he wants to join him or not. Strange is partly responsible, so this is his chance to make up for it, and maybe save some of his friends in the process.

That's why I think he joins him. He ultimately realizes that Doom's way is better than everything being destroyed, which is what happens in the comics. As the multiverse is collapsing, Strange asks what they are going to do, and Doom says they're going to attack the Beyonders, he's going to take their powers, and they're going to save something. Isn't that better than saving nothing? Strange agrees, saying "Yeah, I guess it is," and they join forces.

Gambit appears among Doom's forces

Next up is Gambit, which is very interesting. If this is right, Doom took one of the X-Men and made him his own.

I think the metallic figure is probably Ultron, not Vision

On the left is a figure some people think is Vision, but I don't think so. Some people think it might be Jim Hammond, because he's going to be in VisionQuest. Others think it could be Ultron, and that's what I think as well. It could definitely be a variant of Vision, but I don't think it's the same Vision from VisionQuest.

I believe that Vision is going to be a part of the West Coast Avengers in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, and in Secret Wars specifically he's going to be looking for Wanda. I've also seen some people suggest it's Colossus because the figure looks like it's full metal. I don't think so. I think this is probably Ultron.

Captain America serving Doom fits what we've heard about a darker Doomsday ending

On the far left is who people are saying is Captain America, and that checks out with what we've been hearing about Avengers: Doomsday's ending and why it's actually worse than Infinity War. In Infinity War, the Avengers lose half of one universe. This is on a much bigger scale: the entire multiverse gets destroyed.

We know some people are going to survive. We know Doom is going to resurrect a lot of people, a new world is going to be created, and the Avengers are going to have a chance at redemption. So why would Doomsday be so much darker than a film where people literally get dusted on screen? The reason is that not only does Doom win, he then takes some of our favorite characters, some of the leaders of the people who were fighting him, and makes them work for him.

It's not just this image, either. In other leaks we've seen what looks to be Yelena Belova bringing somebody to Doom in what seems to be a court. We've seen Sue Storm and Franklin Richards, the son of Sue and Reed, at the side of Doctor Doom. He literally takes Reed's wife. So it's not just that Doom won. He's rubbing salt in the wound, taking some of the greatest heroes and having them serve him, and they don't even know it because they don't remember the past. That's why it's darker and more twisted.

Taking the heroes is a very Doom thing to do, as the comics show

It is a Doom thing to do, and he would totally do something like this. In the comics, Reed is on one of the life rafts, so he isn't part of the creation of Battleworld. He's outside space and time. He ends up on Battleworld and eventually confronts Doom, saying "You literally took my whole family." Even Spider-Man is there, sarcastically pointing out that Doom made himself ruler of everything and that they're all completely shocked by it.

It's a very egotistical thing with Doom. There's obviously a pettiness to him, and a superiority complex as well. I'm sure this image doesn't show all of the heroes he takes. It's just one image, which again may or may not be real, suggesting Doom will have characters we know under his influence who don't remember anything about the past.

I think it will take Wanda to awaken everyone against Doom

That's a big part of Secret Wars: awakening people to realize this isn't their life, that Doom created it, and that they had a life before. Think about it from Captain America's side. If someone tells you that you don't remember anything, how are you supposed to believe that? From what you know, Doom is God. He physically created the earth you live on and created your lives. It's essentially somebody random telling you that your god isn't really a good guy. He technically did create the universe, but the way it happened is not good.

So I do think it's going to take Wanda to awaken everybody. That's when everybody really comes around, and then we have a giant army of superheroes against Doctor Doom, which I think is going to be wild.

There's no confirmation, but I hope this one is real

I like seeing this, and I hope it's real because it's really cool to me. But again, take it with a grain of salt. No one has really come out and said they've heard it's fake. There was another image going around that reportedly had Doom with, I think, Vision or somebody behind him, and I've seen a couple of people say that one is fake.

There's no confirmation from Marvel about whether this is real. Last time, the leak came from an actual Marvel artist who was working on Secret Wars. We don't have that for this one, but regardless, I think it's really cool.

Do you think this leaked image of Doom's lieutenants is real?