It has been 5 years since Thanos terrorized the Avengers in Avengers: Endgame. After Tony Stark sacrificed himself to kill Thanos, the MCU has been in need of a big threat that could stand up against the heroes. And the absence of such a face has been a constant criticism among Marvel fans.
Although the studio did decide to put Kang the Conquerer as the next big bad, the plan failed after Jonathan Majors’ assault case and legal troubles. However, according to some recent reports, it seems like it was not the only reason for the failure of The Kang Dynasty storyline.
Why Did Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Replace Jonathan Majors’ Kang?
After Marvel’s Disney+ series Loki, it was established that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would now deal with alternate realities and the multiverse, which was earlier prevented by Jonathan Majors‘ He Who Remains, a variant of Kang.
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Then Kang reappeared as a villain again in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where Council of Kangs was shown, which again assured that Kang and his variants were going to be the next threat in the MCU. However, shortly after that, Majors’ legal troubles began.
According to CBS News, he was found guilty of two charges against his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari- reckless assault and harassment. Following that, Marvel dropped the idea of going with Kang, and Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
However, a recent update coming from insider Daniel Richtman paints a slightly different picture. While interacting with netizens, he revealed that “there wasn’t much hype” around Kang, and Marvel “went with a gimmick casting of RDJ as Doom to get people excited for the Avengers,” and it worked.
The reason they decided to drop Kang wasn’t just because of Majors. When they were looking to recast the role they realized there wasn’t much hype around the character so they went with a gimmick casting of RDJ as Doom to get people excited for the Avengers filma. To be fair I… https://t.co/glX0UZWgRb
— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) October 8, 2024
Richtman’s comments suggest that the studio was reconsidering their plan even before Majors’ was found guilty of his charges, as Kang couldn’t build much hype around him. Moreover, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Downey revealed that Kevin Feige approached him on call for his comeback.
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Feige then mentioned Doctor Doom to Downey, and the actor researched the character and said, “Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.” Following his announcement, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was replaced with Avengers: Doomsday, and Marvel started making new changes in their upcoming storylines.
How Will Doctor Doom Be Presented in the MCU?
After introducing Kang as the next big bad, it was tough to shelf a hyped character. However, Marvel managed to do that in Loki season 2, where Loki managed to break the whole time loop created by He Who Remains and became the one holding the threads of the multiverse.
This put a halt to Kang, as he and his variants can’t manipulate timelines and realities as of now. This gave some time and room for Marvel to introduce a new villain, which ultimately became Downey’s Doctor Doom.
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According to insider Alex Perez, Downey’s Doom won’t have personal rivalries with Reed Richards, unlike comics. In a conversation on Discord (via The Cosmic Circus), Perez revealed,
Doom and Reed don’t really interact in the Fantastic Four movie. I’d like to think of it more as Thanos and Tony in Infinity War, where like, Tony knew a threat from space was coming, but he didn’t know exactly who it was until Infinity War, yet Thanos knew nearly everything he needed to know about Tony. Just switch Thanos with Doom and Tony with Reed.
However, as Downey said in his The Hollywood Reporter interview, “What is going on there, right now, is so beyond my expectations of what was possible,” fans can expect something beyond Doom and Richard’s new dynamics as the fate of the multiverse is at stake now.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theaters on May 1, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Marvel drop Kang?
A combination of Jonathan Majors’ legal issues and a broader creative pivot led Marvel to move on from Kang.
Who replaces Kang as the MCU villain?
Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom becomes the new central antagonist for the Avengers films.
Was Kang supposed to be the next Thanos?
Yes — Kang was originally positioned as the Multiverse Saga’s big bad before the pivot.
