The Problems With Marvel Making Doctor Doom MCU's Secret Wars Villain

Updated  Oct 19, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Bradley Prom is a writer and a University of Minnesota alum living in Los Angeles with a deep love for the movies, television shows, games, books, and stories that have inspired and provoked him throughout his life. He grew up on Star Wars, Justice League, Jurassic Park, Pokémon, Spider-Man, Harry Potter, and Avatar the Last Airbender - to name a few or seven. In adulthood, his passions and tastes have evolved to include other fantastical tales, reality tv, and comedy. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Bradley has a great appreciation for queerness in all forms throughout all facets of entertainment and modern culture. He hopes in developing his own stories and shows, he will help see such representation grow and evolve.

Even though he hasn't even fought the Avengers yet, Doctor Doom is already on track to be their opponent a second time in Avengers: Secret Wars. Originally, there was the expectation that Kang the Conqueror would fulfill the role of the main villain in the pair of Avengers movies, but various developments have changed those plans considerably, resulting in Doctor Doom taking center stage.

On one hand, the character coming back after Avengers: Doomsday to menace them again makes a great deal of sense. Making the battle with Thanos a two-part endeavor worked out splendidly for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Secret Wars. There's also the tremendous marketing value of Robert Downey Jr. playing the definitive Marvel Comics villain, which almost seems too good to limit to one film.

But that's not to say using Doctor Doom in both movies is a flawless strategy. Rather, there are reasons that indicate that as compelling as the idea may be, Doom may not be the ideal choice for Secret Wars, even if he is the comic-accurate pick.

Doctor Doom’s Secret Wars Role Depends On More Than His Powers

Stealing the Beyonder’s power in the original Secret Wars lets Doom turn on the being who brought him to Battleworld. In Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s 2015 series, he goes further. With Molecule Man supplying the Beyonders’ stolen power, Victor builds another Battleworld from fragments of destroyed universes. He rules as God Emperor Doom, with versions of Thor enforcing his laws. When Thanos challenges him, Doom tears out his spine. There’s little doubt about whether he can defeat someone in a fight.

Reed Richards presents a problem he cannot solve that way. In Secret Wars #9, Reed argues that Victor could have done more with the power he acquired. Doom eventually admits Reed would have done better, and Molecule Man gives Reed the power to rebuild. The man demanding worship knows his rival could have saved more than he did.

That admission needs years of resentment behind it, even if the MCU establishes them through a handful of encounters. Viewers should see Victor reject Reed’s help and blame him when things go wrong. Otherwise, Reed’s victory would depend on a relationship the films expect audiences to know from the comics.

Avengers: Doomsday Has To Establish Doom Before Secret Wars

In The Fantastic Four: First Steps credits' scene, Sue leaves Franklin to fetch another book and returns to find a hooded stranger beside him, holding a metal mask. Doom has entered the family’s home before viewers have seen him exchange a word with Reed. The scene makes his interest in Franklin unsettling, but leaves their history unexplained. Doomsday has to develop that conflict while assembling the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men.

Downey’s return makes that introduction more complicated. Viewers watched his Tony Stark die saving the universe in Avengers: Endgame. Now he’s playing Victor von Doom, although Marvel has not confirmed whether the shared face has any significance within the story. Whether that casting helps Victor or overshadows him will matter beyond the reveal. Before Secret Wars gives him a chance to become a god, the MCU needs to establish the man beneath the mask and give audiences reasons to want him around afterward.

Sue finding Doom beside Franklin in The Fantastic Four: First Steps is an intrusion the family never gets to address before the credits resume. Why did he approach their son? Has Reed dealt with him before? Doomsday needs answers that explain Victor’s interest in this family. Otherwise, Franklin risks becoming another powerful child a villain wants to exploit, with little to distinguish Doom’s pursuit from Wanda hunting America Chavez.

Latveria could help us understand that difference. Showing what Victor demands from the people he claims to protect would give his ambitions consequences before entire universes are involved. Does he accept disagreement, or treat it as betrayal? A decision that protects his authority at someone else’s expense would explain his rule more effectively than a speech about being humanity’s only hope.

Downey also arrives with an advantage that could work against Victor. Viewers already care about his face because they watched Tony Stark die after using the Infinity Stones. Reed needs reasons of his own to distrust that face, just as Victor needs grievances that have nothing to do with Iron Man. With Avengers and X-Men also requiring attention, those exchanges cannot be left until Secret Wars. The crossover needs audiences invested in what Doom wants before it asks them to watch everyone fight him.

Doctor Doom Needs An MCU Future Beyond Secret Wars

Making Doom a god in his first major MCU storyline could leave a Fantastic Four sequel trying to follow someone who has already controlled reality. But Victor doesn’t need greater powers to make another encounter worth watching. In Fantastic Four Annual #2, Reed warns him about a calculation in an experiment. Victor dismisses the warning, the machine explodes, and he blames Reed. That refusal to accept help gives them something to fight about long before Battleworld.

Secret Wars #9 brings that history back when Reed helps rebuild the multiverse and heals Victor’s face. Doom removes his mask, touches his restored skin, and smiles. After their fight over who could have saved a better world, Reed uses his power to help him. The ending leaves Victor with a gift from someone he has spent years resenting.

Further Fantastic Four films could explore whether he can accept that kindness without finding another reason to hate Reed. Whatever fate the MCU chooses for Doctor Doom in Avengers: Secret Wars, it should preserve that capacity to turn an offered solution into a personal insult. Audiences need to understand why he would risk another disaster rather than let Reed be right.