Warning: This post contains spoilers for the post-credits scenes of Avengers Endgame: Encore.
In a matter of months, audiences will finally be introduced to Doctor Doom—the biggest villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. No live-action antagonist has been menacing enough to warrant a team-up between Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, but that's soon to change. The ruler of Latveria has already made his presence felt in the post-credits scenes of Avengers Endgame: Encore, and the little we've seen of him is absolutely terrifying. Hopefully, this means the worst is yet to come.
There are a lot of expectations riding on Doctor Doom's shoulders. He has a high bar to clear, which was set by Thanos before him. Furthermore, he needs compelling motivations to be a three-dimensional character and not just an evil copy of the heroes. However, it seems the idea of Doctor Doom not being a true self-made villain may be taken to another extreme if a new report is anything to go by.
Sue Storm will theorize that the Latverian Witches are the real villains in Avengers: Doomsday
According to industry insider MyTimeToShineHello, Sue Storm suspects the Latverian Witches are the true villains pulling the strings and "radicalizing" Doctor Doom during the events of Avengers: Doomsday.
Sue is among the few MCU characters who have had the opportunity to meet Victor von Doom before he turned into a villain. She even talks about him like he was a former friend during the second trailer for Avengers: Doomsday: "[Victor] used to be different. He used to be kind, he used to be caring, and then everything he loved was taken from him. I knew he was lost, but I did not realize that he was broken."
If Sue's theory is true, then we could witness a scenario similar to the one Wanda Maximoff experienced during the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. After all, the Scarlet Witch was under the Darkhold's influence in Stephen Strange's latest adventure, which prompted her to take many lives in search of her sons. Similarly, Doom could be affected by very powerful, albeit dark, magic.
Of course, this potential storyline would also raise some questions. For starters, one of the post-credits scenes in Avengers Endgame: Encore revealed that Doctor Doom is the one who's "collecting" members for his coven of witches. If the ruler of Latveria has been doing this from the start, then it stands to reason that his intentions have always been evil. However, there's also a case to be made that he was bringing together a group of powerful beings to save the multiverse as a whole (no tricks involved) before everything went sideways. But if that's the case, who would be the one to "radicalize" him?
It's been reported that Wanda Maximoff and Doctor Strange will be some of the members of Doom's coven, while Hulk is also another likely candidate, as revealed by the post-credits scene of Avengers Endgame: Encore. Given that the Latverian Witches are mostly made up of former MCU heroes, it's hard to picture a scenario where they are the ones who corrupt Doom. However, pragmatic characters like Doctor Strange could definitely make the "hard choices" if it means saving some lives along the way. Besides, the Darkhold's influence on Wanda could still have a role to play.
Granted, the more likely scenario is that Sue simply hopes Doom isn't truly evil, although her theory may prove to be incorrect. After all, it's all but confirmed that the Ruler of Latveria lost his wife and kid at some point, and it has been heavily rumored that Steve Rogers was indirectly responsible for this tragedy by traveling back in time and creating a branched timeline in the process. As such, Victor could have turned to the dark side after losing his loved ones, and that's why he will wreak havoc across the MCU. Fortunately, it won't be long before we get some much-needed answers.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on Dec. 18, 2026.
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