Doomsday is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the franchise's long-time fans are on the edges of their seats. Yes, Robert Downey Jr.'s return to the MCU in the new role of Doctor Doom has been a major selling point of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, which is pretty significant considering the hype is real when we don't even know the full plot as of yet.
Marvel Studios has been very mysterious about this one, which has only built the anticipation further. What are Doom's true intentions for the grand finale of the Multiverse Saga (Avengers: Doomsday paves the way for 2027's sequel Avengers: Secret Wars) and why does Thor, the God of Thunder, consider him a far more terrifying threat than any of the other foes they faced before?
With that in mind, I have figured out the true plot of Avengers: Doomsday, which would explain all of this and so much more. With that in mind, let's present the case.
*** This article contains potentially MAJOR SPOILERS from Avengers: Doomsday. Don't read on if you would prefer the movie wasn't spoiled for you. ***
The incursions of the multiverse sets Doom's arrival in motion
Avengers: Doomsday is all about the possible annihilation of the multiverse. Just like DC's Crisis On Infinite Earths Arrowverse crossover half a decade ago, the cosmic entity that is the multiverse itself is in danger from eradication. Here, however, the threat isn't anti-matter; it's incursions. And if you remember back to 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we were told about how these incursions - where two worlds literally collide into one another - can doom both realities.
In order to truly highlight the gravity of that, the film is going to need another recognizable world outside of the MCU which can fall victim to these incursions. That's where the returning X-Men come in, as it's highly likely that their world will find itself in imminent danger from one of the cosmic anomalies. Look no further than the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer, which showed Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier looking out the window of his school to see a golden ball of light. Imminent danger or the sign of another nearby universe exploding?
Rumor has it that the X-Men of this world will spend the opening minutes of Avengers: Doomsday doing battle with Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, with Spidey's world ultimately losing out. In fact, a number of reports have also claimed that Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will be the one fighting the veteran Spider-Man when the world implodes, presumably killing both in the process. Although it's unlikely that either one will die (especially Wolverine given his healing factor), it would be a pretty convincing opening that reintroduces us to the X-Men, highlights the stakes, and proves why incursions are not to be trifled with.
Meanwhile, Doom will find his way to that world, seeking out the incursions with a plan that could potentially capitalize on them for his own benefit. There are rumors that he will attempt to be friendly towards the Avengers, using them to get what he wants. His history with the Fantastic Four may well be his entry point to achieving that. After all, the post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps saw Doom pay a visit to the Baxter Building to spend some time with Franklin Richards - the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. If he is still on good terms with the quartet of heroes from his own world, he may well be the one who ultimately convinces them to make their way to the MCU's Earth-616.
We know that Reed, Sue, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are on their way to the MCU. The post-credits scene of Thunderbolts* made that abundantly clear, and it appears as if Avengers: Doomsday will dramatize that moment for us. The question is: Do they arrive with Doom by their side, or are they arriving to warn the Avengers of the threat that he poses to their world? Either is possible.
Regardless of how that conversation plays out, it would eventually bring the Avengers (consisting of the OG Avengers, Sam Wilson's rebuilt Avengers, and Yelena Belova's New Avengers) joining forces with the Fantastic Four and heading to that world. There, they would cross paths with the X-Men, who would understandably consider them enemies: Leading to a brief battle between the two factions - a battle that the trailers have heavily relied on.
Yes, this would be the action-packed showdown that would see Shang-Chi vs. Gambit and Yelena vs. Mystique, likely leading to some very memorable moments that only an MCU movie in the Multiverse Saga could give us. Eventually, they will put their weapons down and talk (as more people really need to do in these movies), figuring out that they are not each other's enemies. And it's highly likely that, in this moment, they will realize that Doom is the main threat - regardless of whether they really knew that before or not.
Remember all those leaks that claimed the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four would battle Sentinels in a wasteland area? Well this is the battle that takes place here. It's also highly likely the one in which Thor will look to attack Doom, only to discover that the all-powerful threat truly is unstoppable.
It has been reported that this is not the film's final battle, which makes sense as Marvel Studios has heavily promoted it in trailers and teasers, remaining pretty coy about what else is to come from it. But having seen four Avengers movies (five if we include Thunderbolts*) so far, there is always more to come from the finished product than the trailers suggest. And that much is definitely true here - so much so that the second teaser trailer has already given us a suggestion of where things go next.
The Avengers will survive this battle, along with their new allies. This is likely where Sue Storm will fill Earth's Mightiest Heroes in on Victor von Doom's backstory, revealing how he was once a kind, decent, honorable friend to them - with her potentially being rocked to her core by what she has witnessed. And that will set in motion the team's plan to recruit more help.
That help will come from Wakanda.
As the Avengers: Doomsday trailer implies, Shuri - a.k.a. the Black Panther herself - will have issues with Namor once again. Although she will have support in the form of M'Baku and the Wakandan army, it looks as if the Avengers will show up with the Fantastic Four by their side. Remember that fourth Avengers: Doomsday character trailer that showed The Thing arrive in Wakanda? That's where this comes in, as the heroes will recruit Black Panther and the Wakandans in the hopes of relying on their incredible technology to overcome Doom's arsenal of tricks.
While Shuri doesn't seem to have a problem reuniting with the Avengers (and meeting all of the new ones), Namor won't be as forthcoming as the trailers suggest that he will be hostile towards the heroes if they attempt to cross in Talokan. We know that he will seemingly fly towards Sue Storm, having manipulated the water as the Invisible Woman attempts to pierce through it with her own abilities. It is possible that he ultimately relents out of shared interests. Because if Wakanda falls with the multiverse, so does Talokan.
Doom's true motivations and the Miracles
With the exception of multiverse-hopping, that plot description probably sounds a little straightforward for a movie of this level, but don't worry because the big secrets are coming. We know that Thor feels that the Avengers can't win without a miracle - and that is where Steve Rogers comes in. The former Captain America is back in action, proving to Thor that he is still worthy when he shows us all that he can still wield Mjolnir. The question is: Where did he come from?
The conclusion of 2019's Avengers: Endgame saw Steve use the Infinity Stones to go back in time and spend the rest of his life with his one true love: Peggy Carter. The two shared the dance we all waited for them to see and lived happily ever after. We now know that their family grew, as the very first character teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday featured Steve, back in his and Peggy's house, holding a baby son. And that's more than enough reason to fight for the fate of the multiverse - because let's not forget here, as Disney Plus' Loki taught us, branched realities like the one that Steve is currently living in are every bit as vulnerable as the original ones they were born out of - even more vulnerable, to be perfectly honest.
Speaking of Loki, the God of Stories is strongly expected to show up outside of Steve and Peggy's house early on in the movie, filling him in on the dangers of the multiverse's incursions and potentially recruiting him to help one more time. It will undoubtedly be a compelling scene as Steve and Loki haven't seen each other in years, with the former Captain America thinking that his old enemy actually died at the hands of Thanos. Of course, we know that the version of the trickster that the Avengers crossed paths when they revisited 2012 in Avengers: Endgame actually managed to escape into the timeline, abscond with the Tesseract and eventually join the Time Variance Authority - learning about his old life and vowing to tell a different story.
Loki saved all of the timelines within the multiverse when he enchanted them with his own magic (which substituted the Temporal Loom after its destruction) and sat on the throne at the end of time as the God of Stories. A lonely life for someone notoriously selfish, but a sign of how far he had come. And it's that earned selflessness that will bring him to Steve and Peggy's door - setting in motion his reunion with the Avengers.
Rumor has it, however, that Doom will also pay a visit to this timeline - blaming Steve's actions in Avengers: Endgame on causing ripple effects throughout the multiverse. He will also seemingly look to claim revenge, threatening to harm his family in a bid to get back at him. Considering that he has the same face as Steve's old friend and fellow Avenger Tony Stark, that would be a frightful revelation for him - especially if he ends up doing something horrible.
Doom himself will be protected by the magic of Latverian witches, which seemingly allows him to withstand even Thor's own axe Stormbreaker. It's unclear as to how the witches play into or even who they are, but there are a multitude of theories online that have fans convinced that Marvel Studios is keeping some MCU-sized surprises for the big reveals in the movie itself. If you would like to know who they supposedly are, keep reading.
Yes, Marvel fans are convinced that the three witches are characters we have already met before: The green one is rumored to be Loki's Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), the red one is rumored to be Wanda Maximoff herself, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and the third is rumored to be Clea (Charlize Theron). All three of those names are monumental and would certainly be jaw-dropping reveals in and of themselves, but what they would imply would be even more of a shocker.
Sylvie being a magic-wielder for Doom might create an interesting dynamic for Loki, who is trying to stop him. Wanda supposedly died in the closing moments of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when she sacrificed herself so that the Darkhold could never harm anyone ever again, and Clea made her debut in the post-credits scene of that same movie. Marvel has selected Multiverse of Madness as one of the essential films on its "Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday" watch-list, which could suggest some massive returns. After all, there is a fourth magic wielder - a male - in the upcoming film who fans suspect is none other than Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).
It would make sense as that particular character's iron mask has room for a third eye. When we most recently saw Strange, he just developed that third eye and jumped into the Dark Dimension with Clea to prevent an incursion that he seemingly caused - so, chances are, if one got corrupted by Doom, both of them did.
The million dollar question, however, is: Why is Doom doing all of this? We mentioned earlier that he will seemingly blame Steve Rogers' actions in Avengers: Endgame for causing a multiversal incursion that killed his own family and, therefore, he has plans to capitalize on the next one in the form of revenge. There is a strong possibility that Doom will approach the Fantastic Four and the Avengers as a friend when, in reality, he has plans to reshape the multiverse in his own image. And that brings us to the grand finale of the movie.
The cliffhanger and the Secret Wars set up
Avengers: Doomsday is the first part of the Multiverse Saga's conclusion. If you remember 2018's Avengers: Infinity War (the first part of the Infinity Saga's conclusion) ended on one of the most shocking cliffhangers in cinema history when Thanos snapped half of the universe out of existence. There is little reason to think that Avengers: Doomsday won't do the same.
It's a little unclear as to what the final battle of the movie will look like, but we can rest assured that there will be one. But, the sad truth is that Victor von Doom will ultimately come out on top, reshaping some of the multiverse in his own images, effectively sending the heroes to what he calls Battleworld. And with that, the large ensemble group of MCU heroes will have lost this war for the multiverse's fate.
However, it's largely expected that a few heroes will survive the ordeal - and those ones will become imperative to 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars. Just as Endgame reduced the large Infinity War ensemble cast to focus primarily on the six original Avengers, Secret Wars is expected to have a smaller, core group of heroes to come together and save the bigger team, ultimately restoring the multiverse (albeit with some changes).
According to reports, we will see the Young Avengers (a.k.a. the Champions) play a bigger role here, with the likes of Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Wiccan and Speed, and Cassie Lang all attempt to save the veteran Avengers. They may or may not have guidance from the likes of Vision and Agatha Harkness, while other long-standing Marvel veterans such as Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man (who will reportedly survive their clash in Avengers: Doomsday) will also team up with them to help. And yes, this is where Tom Holland's Spider-Man is expected to come into play, too.
Speaking of younger heroes and Spider-Man, Sadie Sink is also expected to reprise her role as Jean Grey in Avengers: Secret Wars, with reports claiming that she will be the one who ultimately restores the Avengers' memories after they are discovered on Battleworld, showcasing how powerful she is and setting thr stage for her massive role in the Mutants Saga, beginning with the 2028 X-Men movie.
All in all, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are sure to be massive undertakings that will certainly change the game for the Marvel Cinematic Universe forever. It's reptty clear that Doctor Doom is going to be a force-to-be-reckoned with and, for some time at least, he will suceeed in his plans to reshape the multiverse. But, as we have all come to know from the MCU at this stage, the Avengers will always find a way to succeed. And when they assemble, nobody can stop them.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters on December 18, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars then arrives in movie theaters on December 17, 2027.
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