Avengers: Doomsday: does Doom matter more to Spider-Man?

At the time of writing, an insider report claimed that Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom would share an important relationship with Reed Richards in the next Avengers films, but that his relationship with Tom Holland's Spider-Man would be even more important. Even if Doom isn't a Tony Stark variant, the fact that he looks like Tony could become a weapon against Spider-Man and the Avengers.

Here is what was being reported then about Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man 4 and the Fantastic Four, and how I thought it could all connect.

Tom Holland's Spider-Man was set to lead Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4

At the time, Marvel Studios was not far from beginning production on Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4. According to ProductionList.com, filming was set to start in January 2025 and April 2025. Tom Holland's Spider-Man was, of course, going to lead Spider-Man 4, but he was also set to be a lead in Avengers: Doomsday.

That makes sense when you consider the villain. Doom was going to be played by Robert Downey Jr. At first, many people thought this was going to be big for Spider-Man, until the Russo brothers, Robert Downey Jr. and some insiders stated that his Doctor Doom is indeed going to be Victor Von Doom.

Is Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom really Victor Von Doom or a Tony Stark variant?

I'm not so sure I buy it yet. Why have Robert Downey Jr. specifically return to the MCU if he isn't going to play some variant of Tony Stark? We'll have to wait and see on that. In the meantime, insiders were saying there would be a big connection between Spider-Man and Doctor Doom. That implies that even if he isn't a Tony Stark variant, the films are still going to address the fact that he looks like Tony Stark.

This is the Multiverse, and anything is possible with an infinite number of universes and infinite variations of characters. It's certainly possible for a spirit to be born inside the physical body of Tony Stark, but into different circumstances. He could look like Tony Stark and still be Victor Von Doom, born in Latveria, with the background of Victor Von Doom. Everything would simply look like Tony.

We've already seen this happen in the MCU, recently in Deadpool & Wolverine. That film had two different characters played by the same actor: Chris Evans's Human Torch and his Captain America. When Deadpool saw the Human Torch, he thought he was Captain America. The same thing is going to happen with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.

Insider MyTimeToShineHello claimed Doom's relationship with Spider-Man would matter most

According to a report from the insider MyTimeToShineHello, Doom and Reed will interact in the Avengers movies and their relationship will be important, but his relationship with Tom Holland's Spider-Man will be more important. It seems like a lot was in store for Spider-Man. He was set to be the lead, or one of the leads, in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and Spider-Man 4 was set to follow Avengers: Doomsday.

The same insider also stated that Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom will appear briefly in Spider-Man 4. That kind of interaction with Spider-Man is one of the reasons I, and I think many other people, wanted Robert Downey Jr.'s Doom to simply be a Tony Stark variant.

Why a Doctor Doom who looks like Tony Stark could make the fight harder for the Avengers

I still believe this could work even if he's a Victor variant. Regardless, him looking like Tony Stark is going to be very emotional for Tom Holland's Spider-Man, and for many people. It's going to add an entirely new layer to the battle when it comes to taking down Doctor Doom. In fact, this might contribute to the Avengers losing to Doom specifically because he looks like Tony Stark.

That new component would be a different emotional element that we probably haven't seen in many fights. Think about Tom Holland's Spider-Man trying to fight a Doctor Doom who looks just like Tony Stark. It's going to be incredibly hard for him, and for characters like Bruce Banner, Hawkeye and Sam Wilson.

Many people were asking what happens if he simply wears his Doom mask the entire time. My answer is that they didn't bring back Robert Downey Jr. to keep his mask on the entire time. They're definitely showing his face. I'd probably say they're going to show his face more often than he'll have the mask on, though we'll have to wait and see. I think his resemblance to Tony might be something like a superpower that Doom uses to manipulate the Avengers.

My theory: Doom poses as the Multiverse's savior before betraying the Avengers

Based on what I had heard, Doom is originally going to be trying to save the Multiverse, and he could use his resemblance to Tony against the Avengers as well. It sounded like this might be part of the plot of Doctor Strange 3. Doctor Doom is going to be viewed somewhat as a hero, traveling the Multiverse trying to figure out what is causing all of these incursions that are ultimately destroying it, so he can stop it. In the middle of this, he runs into Doctor Strange, who along with his variants has been causing incursions.

Going back to Avengers: Doomsday, I can see how Doom could still try to make it look like he is a hero trying to save the Multiverse. Then, at the end, he decides that the Multiverse needs to be destroyed, but that one part of it can be saved: his own world, Battleworld, where he can be king and ruler. Perhaps in Avengers: Doomsday we see that switch. We see him try to be good, and we see him try to manipulate Spider-Man and the Avengers into thinking he is trying to save the universe, until he concludes that everything has to be destroyed and only one part can survive.

That is when I believe the Avengers are going to go up against him, which will be even harder if he is their ally at first. Not only will he look like Tony Stark, but he'll bond with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and the rest of the Avengers as they work together to save the Multiverse, before ultimately turning around and betraying them. Then the fight over the Multiverse breaks out.

I believe it ends with most of the universe being destroyed, with maybe a dozen universes left over, much like it happens in the comics. That could explain why Spider-Man 4, the film following Doomsday, is, from what I had heard, going to start off grounded and street level, but get more and more multiversal or cosmic with each day that passes. Both the entire Multiverse and the specific 616 universe are probably in danger of being destroyed by an incursion.

Reed Richards and Doctor Doom: a rivalry that could connect the Fantastic Four to Doomsday

Then there is what the report said about Reed. The relationship between Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, and Victor Von Doom is deep. When the US government got Doom out of Latveria, it brought him to New York and put him in college. Reed and Victor met there and have been rivals ever since.

At that point, a few different insiders had said that Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom would make a cameo appearance in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. So it seems that Doom, the main villain, might be coming from the alternate universe the Fantastic Four film is set in. We didn't know what that universe was yet, because the film hadn't been released. But it seemed like it would establish the relationship between Reed and Victor. We had also heard officially from Marvel Studios that the Fantastic Four will be in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which most likely means they make their way over to the main 616 Sacred Timeline.

Based on a leak about the film, the Fantastic Four might come from the Sacred Timeline. Due to an experiment in the past, they ended up traveling through the Multiverse into this other universe, and that is how they got their powers. That isn't confirmed, so take it with a grain of salt. It does make some sense, though, because the other part of the leak is that they spend the whole time trying to find a way back to their own universe, the 616. So it seems Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four will be working on a multiversal travel device. I believe that if they build it, Doom eventually gets his hands on it, and that could be how Doom ends up traveling the Multiverse.

How Doctor Doom could take Kang's place as the ultimate villain

In the comics, Doom can also travel through time. In college, Reed and Doom agree on how they view time. In Books of Doom, we see them in college, with Victor telling his professor that he views time differently, and Reed agrees with him. This could be how Doom takes the place of Kang, with him and Reed figuring out time travel and Multiverse travel.

That would make Doctor Doom the ultimate villain. Kang had the ability to travel through time and the Multiverse, but he was only human. Victor is human too, but he knows sorcery. He's one of the most powerful sorcerers ever, and in one comic iteration he becomes the Sorcerer Supreme.

The relationship between Reed Richards and Doom in the MCU might be complicated, but it is going to be incredibly important. I don't think they can simply ignore how connected Reed and Doom are in the comics. Expect big stories with Doom and Spider-Man, and with Doom and Reed.