Avengers: Doomsday Is Switching Main Characters For Only The 2nd Time In Marvel History

Published Sep 15, 2026, 12:15 PM EDT

Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release.

He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has revolved around the same heroes since the beginning, but Avengers: Doomsday is switching up who the main character is dramatically. Marvel Studios built the MCU around the original Avengers: Iron Man, Steve Rogers, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye. They were the focus of the first four Avengers. A new group has taken over now.

Of the six founding Avengers, only Steve and Thor are confirmed to be characters in Avengers: Doomsday. They have both been prominently featured in the marketing, with Marvel Studios leaning into audiences' familiarity with the elder statesmen of the heroic team rather than pushing the heroes who have been more central focuses of the Multiverse Saga.

Fresher heroes like Yelena Belova, Reed Richards, or Sue Storm won't occupy the role of Doomsday's main character, nor will MCU veterans like Sam Wilson's Captain America or Bucky Barnes. Steve and Thor are both expected to have key roles, as they have had in all the Avengers movies, but it might be a stretch to consider either of them the film's main character.

That title more accurately belongs to Doctor Doom. Robert Downey Jr.'s new MCU character may be the ultimate villain behind Avengers: Doomsday, but he is most certainly the character that the movie hinges on the most. It's a perspective shift that is almost completely new to the MCU.

Iron Man Was The Main Character Of Almost Every Avengers Movie

When looking at the previous Avengers movies, Iron Man stands out as the main character. They are ensemble films meant to develop each of the major heroes, but his arc is more often than not the one that is most important to what is going on.

Iron Man entered The Avengers as the MCU's most popular hero, so he understandably got a hefty role. Tony Stark's arc of learning to be a team player and put his life on the line to save others receives the most attention in Joss Whedon's film. The sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, keeps Iron Man central to the story by having him be responsible for creating Ultron. It is Tony's fears that define the movie, in more ways than one.

Avengers: Endgame leans heavily on Iron Man once again, with his sacrifice and journey to get to that point a major focus. Steve's arc also receives significant attention, but more of the movie revolves around Tony. The only Avengers movie that we can definitively say Iron Man isn't the main character is Avengers: Infinity War, as the Russos made Thanos the central focus and the character who wins in the end.

This makes Doomsday only the second time that the Avengers franchise is switching main characters. This was inevitable given Iron Man's death in Endgame, but who was going to step up and fill his void was unclear. It turns out that RDJ gets to lead his fourth Avengers movie, even if he's playing a different brilliant man in a suit than before.

Doctor Doom Being The Main Character Is A Good Sign For Avengers: Doomsday

Once Marvel decided to pivot away from Kang the Conqueror as the Multiverse Saga's big bad, it made sense for the fifth Avengers movie to evolve into a Doctor Doom-centric narrative. Doomsday has to make audiences understand who Victor von Doom is and why he's doing what he's doing. There's been so little setup for him before this point that the only logical step was to make him the main character.

It's the same thing Marvel did with Thanos in Infinity War, and that worked out wonderfully. Thanos had more setup than Doom heading into their first major Avengers roles, but the Mad Titan still needed more development to be a saga-defining villain. Infinity War wound up doing such an amazing job exploring the villain's motivation and thought process that some audiences even argue that Thanos was right, even if they disagree with his methods.

Doom needs the same level of depth for Avengers: Doomsday to work. The only way that is possible is if the entire movie revolves around him and is dedicated to building him up and fleshing him out, culminating in Victor's victory. With Doctor Doom taking on the main character role, that should be achievable and help the MCU really get audiences invested in the movie and what transpires next in Avengers: Secret Wars.

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  Victor von Doom

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  Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic

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  Thor

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  Vanessa Kirby

  Sue Storm / Invisible Woman