There’s been a lot of talk about how Marvel is preparing for Avengers: Doomsday, but the focus is off. This movie is actually the most crucial of any currently planned Marvel release. While films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the third season of Daredevil: Born Again are expected to be largely self-contained stories, Avengers: Doomsday marks the start of the final chapter of the Multiverse Saga. Especially with the changes after Jonathan Majors’ legal issues meant plans for Kang the Conqueror were scrapped, Avengers: Doomsday has to be both a great movie on its own and a strong new direction for the story.
The trailer for Avengers: Doomsday gave us our first glimpse of Marvel Studios’ next big story, and it generally made a good impression. However, it’s also sparked debate about whether the groundwork has been properly laid for Doctor Doom’s introduction and the upcoming two Avengers films. This discussion is largely due to how well the Infinity Saga – which ended with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame – was built up. Most Marvel fans agree that Thanos’ time in the MCU felt earned, thanks to effective teasing and a satisfying conclusion.
Many fans are concerned that Doctor Doom won’t receive a similar build-up to Thanos before his major appearance. He’s only been subtly referenced in the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), which is a year before Avengers: Doomsday. Initially, this seems like a valid concern when comparing it to the way Marvel established Thanos during the Infinity Saga. However, looking closer reveals that our memory of how much Thanos was teased beforehand isn’t entirely accurate. It’s easy to forget the Infinity Saga wasn’t actually called the ‘Thanos Saga’; it focused on the Infinity Stones themselves.
Before Avengers: Infinity War came out, Thanos appeared on screen for about two minutes across the previous 18 Marvel movies. Doctor Doom, on the other hand, has already had roughly a minute of screen time in the post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with additional hints about him appearing throughout that film. Considering these numbers, the question of whether Doom has been teased as much as Thanos feels less important. What really made Avengers: Infinity War successful was the groundwork laid for the Infinity Stones.
The Infinity Saga Was Never About Thanos
Both the overarching storyline known as the Infinity Saga, and the movie Avengers: Infinity War, took their name from the Infinity Stones. These powerful objects were hinted at frequently throughout the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even more so than the villain Thanos. Early Marvel films quickly established the Infinity Stones as important elements of the universe. Before Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos was only shown briefly, and those scenes only established his goal: to collect the Stones. This is similar to the character of Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, who also shows a strong interest in a powerful being (Franklin Richards) and understands the existence of multiple universes.
| MCU Infinity Saga Movie | Infinity Stone Featured |
|---|---|
| Captain America: The First Avengers | Space Stone |
| The Avengers | Space Stone |
| Thor: The Dark World | Reality Stone |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | Power Stone (All 6 mentioned) |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | Mind Stone (All 6 teased) |
| Doctor Strange | Time Stone |
| Avengers: Infinity War | All 6 Stones |
| Avengers: Endgame | All 6 Stones |
The idea that Thanos was prominently featured in many projects to build up to his role in Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t quite hit the mark. Thanos was more of a tool to highlight the key elements of the Infinity Saga – the Infinity Stones themselves. In Avengers: Doomsday, Doctor Doom serves the same purpose, but for the current Multiverse Saga: showcasing the multiverse. Ever since Avengers: Endgame, the multiverse has been central to eleven different projects, and Doom’s role in Avengers: Doomsday is simply a result of that focus, rather than being about his character specifically.
Doom Doesn’t Need To Be Teased & Thanos Proves It
Expanding on this idea, Thanos emphasizes that the focus before Avengers: Doomsday shouldn’t be on setting up Doctor Doom, but rather on establishing the multiverse. Before Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos wasn’t widely considered a standout villain in the MCU. The initial excitement around him largely came from comic book fans sharing their knowledge with broader audiences. While early hints at his importance helped somewhat, those scenes mostly served to generate hype – not develop his character. In fact, some of them don’t quite fit now when viewed after Infinity War.
The scene of Thanos obtaining the Infinity Gauntlet from Odin’s vault in The Avengers was quickly overlooked in later films. Initially, Thanos felt like a one-dimensional villain – a powerful brute relying on his established reputation from the comics. It wasn’t until Avengers: Infinity War that he became a truly compelling character. That film explored his past, his family, and the reasons behind his actions, making him one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, alongside his already impressive power.
This demonstrates that successful villain introductions don’t rely on earlier films building them up. Avengers: Infinity War is what made Thanos such a compelling villain, not the other way around. The same approach could work brilliantly with Doctor Doom in an Avengers: Doomsday film. Doom is actually a more layered and intricate character than Thanos within Marvel Comics, offering the MCU ample opportunity to explore his motivations and personality.
The upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars further suggests Doctor Doom could surpass Thanos as a villain, even without benefiting from early hype. Both comic book versions of Secret Wars heavily featured Doom, while Thanos had limited screen time in Avengers: Endgame, appearing mostly at the beginning and during the final battle – despite his central role in Avengers: Infinity War. Considering both the Doomsday and Secret Wars comics, it’s probable that Doom will ultimately have more screen time in the MCU than Thanos did, and as Thanos demonstrated, significant screen time is key to building a compelling villain.
The Multiverse Has Been Teased Even More Than The Infinity Stones
Ultimately, all the debate about whether Thanos is stronger than Doom or if Infinity War is better than Doomsday feels pointless because the idea of the multiverse has already been heavily hinted at – even more so than the Infinity Stones were before their big moment. In the 18 films leading up to Avengers: Infinity War, the Infinity Stones were central to only eight of them. But with the Multiverse Saga, each new project seems to build towards a multiversal storyline even more consistently than the Infinity Saga did with the Infinity Stones.
Since the start of Phase 4 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the idea of the multiverse has been central to the plot of 11 movies and TV shows. Some of these, including Loki, What If…?, and Spider-Man, have had multiple seasons, significantly increasing the number of multiverse-focused stories. Plus, even projects like Thunderbolts are building towards the multiverse storyline with post-credit scenes that connect to Avengers: Doomsday.
Over the past few years, Marvel projects have consistently built towards the Multiverse Saga. Since the core story of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will center on the multiverse and incursions—not on Doctor Doom himself—the central point of this discussion is no longer relevant. As we’ve seen before, Doom is simply a way to reach the climax of the Multiverse Saga, much like Thanos served that purpose for the Infinity Saga. Considering this, there was no real need to foreshadow the upcoming villain any further.
2026-07-28 00:39