Daily News for Marvel Movie

Summary

• Doctor Doom replacing Kang in Avengers 5 makes particular sense based on the Loki season 2 ending.
• The TVA targeting Kang variants allows for a smooth transition to Doctor Doom as the next main villain.
• The groundwork laid in the Multiverse Saga for Kang's story can still be utilized effectively for Doctor Doom's narrative.

The MCU changing its previous Kang-focused Avengers 5 concept for Avengers: Doomsday has raised many questions about how the franchise will pull off replacing the villain – but it already showed how this can work in 2023. Kang's place in the MCU has been complicated from the offset, with audiences first introduced to the Kang variant He Who Remains in Loki season 1 in 2021. Following this, the main Kang's debuted in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, with the movie's divisive reception raising questions about the villain's own potential effectiveness as seemingly the Multiverse Saga's main antagonist.
Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom may alone be enough to get the focus on this new villain in the real world. That said, how the franchise will choose to explain the swap over in-universe is still as of yet not definite, especially since the story ideally needs to fit Doom's introduction into the multiverse as smoothly as possible. However, the MCU timeline has already gone in-depth into one story that perfectly justifies Kang being replaced with Doctor Doom from this point onward – though ironically, it doesn't seem this was the intent behind the storyline at the time.
Loki Season 2's Ending Set Up The Perfect Justification For Kang's Disappearance From The MCU Timeline Loki Season 2's Final Episode Is The Perfect Justification For Major Changes To Kang's Overall MCU Story Close With Doctor Doom replacing Kang for Avengers 5 – which went from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday – it seems the franchise is set to put Kang on the backburner at best. All in all, it seems the most likely outcome is that Kang's fate in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be treated as a definitive death, and not the fake-out demise it initially appeared set to be. However, the full set up regarding Kang and his unusual story makes things more complicated than simply saying the lone villain is dead, and thus the franchise can move on.
This is because Kang's death alone doesn't address the entire issue at hand with replacing him, as the entire Council Of Kangs was also introduced in the movie – all played by former Kang actor Jonathan Majors before he was let go from the role – and the MCU will need to justify why the tease of them becoming a major threat to Marvel's heroes is seemingly now set to not come to fruition. Mercifully, Phase 5 has already seemingly inadvertently created the perfect explanation for the Council's termination coming almost as abruptly as their introduction.
The Loki season 2 ending sees the Time Variance Authority change purpose, as the TVA go from being led by Kang variant He Who Remains to hunting down variants of Kang instead. Given the extent of the resources and time-traveling prowess the TVA has, it'd be entirely within reason to justify the Council of Kangs being neutralized by them. With Deadpool & Wolverine bringing the TVA into the movie landscape, taking this approach wouldn't mean introducing the TVA to film-only audiences at the same time, and the Deadpool movie showing how powerful the faction is certainly helps set the stage.
Doctor Doom Replacing Kang As The MCU's Biggest Threat Makes Sense Based On Loki Season 2 The Time Variance Authority Are After Kang, Not Doom Close With the Time Variance Authority ensuring any Kang variants with goals of multiversal domination are incarcerated or destroyed, the path is clear for Doctor Doom to become the next main villain for the MCU. However, there's currently no established reason for the TVA to be working towards stopping Doctor Doom – or indeed, even being that aware of the character's existence. While this may be set to change quickly depending on the events that take place in Avengers: Doomsday, it already justifies Victor von Doom becoming the new primary antagonist in the franchise instead of Kang.
This is doubly true if it turns out Doom is already aware of the nature of the multiverse, as an intelligent character without the history and bravado characteristic of Kang and his main variants is likely to keep any schemes as undetectable as possible until they're able to carry them out. In fact, this could work well to differentiate Kang and Doctor Doom, making the latter appear like more of a successful villain out of the gate through his prospective ability to accomplish his plans without being stopped by the group that oversees the multiverse itself.
Kang's Multiverse Saga Set Up Can Still Work Perfectly For Doctor Doom's MCU Story The Multiverse Saga's Main Story Paths Still Make Sense For Doctor Doom Close While the lore dedicated to Kang himself can't be used in the same way to flesh out a story for him following Marvel cutting ties with Jonathan Majors, this framework still can be effectively utilized by Doctor Doom's story. The knowledge that there was a past multiversal war so intense it almost tore reality apart – as He Who Remains discusses in Loki – still works to underline how dangerous any multiverse-threatening villain can be, even if said villain is no longer going to be Kang.
Similarly, the Multiverse Saga specifically dedicating time to detail the concept of Incursions – and the threat they pose to universes – is sure to benefit the story of what is likely a variant of Doctor Doom clashing with Earth-616's heroes. Incursions looked set initially to make the Council of Kangs a greater threat, as the fact they're caused by multiversal travel means a huge army of universe-traveling variants posed a colossal danger – but an unhinged supervillain who may be looking to protect his own world from destruction by invading and annihilating others certainly sounds just as engaging.
While Avengers: Doomsday is set to have less direct connective tissue than Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could have, much of the core Multiverse Saga storyline still works in roughly the same light for the upcoming fifth Avengers movie. Indeed, this readjustment may even help the franchise course correct following its lackluster Kang film debut. When combined with the Russo brothers being back to direct and Robert Downey Jr. taking on the role of Doctor Doom, things look promising for the franchise's future, even if the story isn't heading in the direction that seemed inevitable when Kang first appeared on screens.
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