Doom vs Kang Theory Ties He Who Remains' Loki Warning to Battleworld

A fan theory I came across offers what I think is a perfect way to connect Doctor Doom to everything Kang the Conqueror has said in the MCU. The idea is that the end of the multiverse He Who Remains warned about in Loki season 1 was really the aftermath: Battleworld, with Doom in control of everything and everyone left.

Later in this piece I will also get to what Jonathan Majors said at the time about wanting to return as Kang, and the letter he sent to Kevin Feige after he was fired.

Kang's MCU story needed closure as Doom took over as the big bad

There was a lot of talk at the time about Kang still being part of the MCU, and about Doom coming in and essentially killing Kang to establish himself as a threat bigger than Kang. That mattered because Kang was the one who was set up to be the big bad. A lot of people wanted closure on his story rather than seeing him simply dropped, especially after that Ant-Man and the Wasp post credits scene.

Luckily, we had heard from many different insiders who stated that Marvel had some sort of plan to end Kang's story as Doom came in. I hoped that would end up being true. I also hoped we would get Kang the Conqueror at some point down the line after Avengers: Secret Wars, because he really does deserve a story.

The big question left with the fandom was what exactly the Russo brothers and Marvel Studios would do story wise with Doom replacing Kang as the big bad, and how they would finish that story.

The theory says He Who Remains saw Doom ruling Battleworld

The theory was originally sent to me on X, but I think I tracked it down to the original poster, a user on Reddit who shared it under MCU theories. The poster wrote that since the Doom announcement, they had been thinking about how Marvel could realistically pivot from one villain to the next. They had seen other ideas in which a scene shows Doom killing off the Council of Kangs and walking away, but in their opinion that "just seems too much like bad fanfiction."

I would say I kind of agree. I want more than Doom showing up and killing them. I want a specific reason why, not just to show how powerful he is, but connected to the story. That brings us to what He Who Remains said in Loki season 1 about the multiversal war, the war his variants were involved in, and how he had seen how it ends. It is a scene I often go back to, because I don't think the Russo brothers are going to abandon everything Kang said in Loki season 1 or season 2.

The theory notes that this multiverse war causes incursions, with universes colliding and bringing about the end of the multiverse. But it asks: "What if he saw the aftermath? What if he saw Battle World with Doom in control ruling over everything and everyone that's left, including him?" In this version, that is the reason He Who Remains created the Sacred Timeline: not just to stop his variants, but to stop the rise of Doom, which is the repercussion of all the Kangs messing with the multiverse.

The Council of Kangs could replace the Beyonders

With this theory, I think the Beyonders could be swapped out in the MCU for the Council of Kangs. That would be a different story from the comics, obviously, but Marvel never adapts a story exactly as it is. It takes inspiration. In the comics, we find out the Beyonders are the ones about to destroy the multiverse via Molecule Man: infinite amounts of Molecule Man that they made specifically to be bombs to destroy every single universe.

Bringing in the Beyonders is totally doable in the MCU, but it would come out of left field, and Marvel was already doing that with Doom. I think Marvel would rather connect everything than have so many things arrive out of nowhere. That is why the Beyonders could be replaced with the Council of Kangs, specifically Rama-Tut, the Scarlet Centurion and Immortus.

He Who Remains talks about the multiversal war as basically the end. He says it was almost the end of everything, but then he harnessed the power of Alioth and secluded our timeline. Marvel could retcon that so that, yes, he was talking about the end of the multiverse, and all that was left was Doom and Battleworld. By his own logic, it makes sense that the Council of Kangs are the ones who bring about the death of the multiverse, which is essentially what the Beyonders do in the comics.

The Fantastic Four and Kang's comic book ties to Reed Richards and Doom

The theory goes further, stating: "This could also explain why the Fantastic 4 aren't in 616, because without them, there is essentially no Dr. Doom."

Kang is said to be a descendant of Reed Richards or Doom. It's not 100% clear, but Kang's real name is Nathaniel Richards, which is the name of Reed's father.

In the comics, when Kang takes on the guise of Rama-Tut, he loses to the Fantastic Four and tries to go back to his original time. He gets caught in a time storm that doesn't allow him to return, and eventually he runs into Doom. The two believe they are possibly related, and Doom inspires Nathaniel to abandon the Rama-Tut guise and adopt one very similar to Doom's. That is how the Scarlet Centurion was born. So Kang has big connections to both Reed and Victor, and it would make sense that Kang would know about Doom.

Battleworld concept art and incursions made the end He Who Remains saw fit

We had seen leaked concept art showing that Marvel Studios had at least been considering doing Battleworld. If the end result really is Battleworld, it makes sense that Kang would have seen that end, because that is essentially what was coming.

The incursions were happening and the multiverse collapse had begun. The war would take place because when universes start colliding, the way to save your own universe is to destroy the other universe's Earth. So that war was coming, plus the war against Doom, and what would have been the war against the Kangs. Retconning things so that the end He Who Remains saw was Doom makes perfect sense to me, and it is a way to keep the continuity going even though Kang was leaving and Doom was coming in.

Jonathan Majors said it was "not over until it's over" for his Kang

There was also new information at the time about Jonathan Majors wanting to return as Kang. He had been doing a lot of interviews for his comeback movie Magazine Dreams, and people were asking him about Marvel and losing the role. In one interview he was asked whether it was possible for him to return to Marvel.

He answered: "Yeah, I mean, you play the hand you're dealt. It's not over until it's over. Man, here's the thing about Marvel. You don't know until you know." He added that of all the characters he had played, Kang carries a certain novelty and challenge for an actor that he would love to play again, and that as long as the streets and the fans are talking, there's hope.

He continued: "I absolutely want to do it again, and if there's a way, I'd love to do it again." He said the role was unique from any other he had played because of the lexicon of characters Kang gets to play.

Majors never heard back from Kevin Feige after his letter

In another interview, Majors talked about a letter he sent to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige right after he was fired. He said he didn't know how it was received, that he was sure Feige was in a tough position when he sent it, and that he had nothing but love for Marvel. Then he said: "I didn't hear back."

It sounds like he expressed his love for Kang, for Marvel and for Feige, but he never heard back from Marvel or Feige. That would seemingly tell us Marvel Studios had essentially moved on from Majors. Maybe they bring back Kang, but maybe they recast him. So it appeared Majors was done as Kang, but as he said, you don't know until you know. If the fans and the streets are talking about it, there's hope. Probably not a lot of hope at that point, but again, you never know.

Do you think the end He Who Remains saw could really have been Doom ruling Battleworld?