The jaw-dropping origins of Marvel's new villain have been "revealed"

The past year has been a particularly unusual one for Marvel Studios. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was dealt a number of box office defeats, one of its streaming shows received the franchise's worst ever reviews, and the studio parted ways with actor Jonathan Majors, who was the MCU's new Big Bad Kang the Conqueror. But things improved this year, with the record-setting release of Deadpool and Wolverine bringing the franchise back into the billion-dollar club.

San Diego Comic-Con also brought forth exciting news, as it was revealed that Marvel had finally figured out how to proceed with the movie formerly known as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, retitling it Avengers: Doomsday and bringing in Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom to act as the Multiverse Saga's new villain.

After the initial wave of excitement over Downey's return to the franchise, fans began to wonder how that could even happen considering he once played the MCU's most iconic character, Iron Man. Now, a new report has shed some light on that.

Doctor Doom is reportedly from the same earth as the Fantastic Four

A new report from Marvel insider Daniel Richtman has seemingly confirmed that Doctor Doom will come from the same universe as the Fantastic Four. Some fans speculated that this might be the case given what we know about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie and that the character is the foursome's archenemy in the Marvel Comics.

It was already known that Doctor Doom would originate from some alternate universe or timeline. That information hadn't been confirmed by Marvel, but it was clear for two reasons. The first of those is that the franchise is in the midst of its Multiverse Saga, so its main villain was always likely going to be a multiversal threat. The second is the most important one: RDJ had already played Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, in the franchise for over a decade, so there had be some kind of explanation as to why this new villain would look like him.

The running theory has been that this version of Victor von Doom could be an alternate earth's doppelganger of Tony Stark, whose life took a very different route to his MCU counterpart. There was also speculation that he could debut in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie prior to his major role in both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings the titular foursome of heroes to the MCU for the first time ever and it will reportedly be set in an alternate universe from the rest of the franchise. If that's the case, it would explain how Doctor Doom is from an alternate universe too. In fact, rumors have been starting to flow, suggesting that Doctor Doom could appear in the 2025 film's post-credits scene, effectively setting up his role in the Avengers movies.

It's all rumors and reports at that this point, and the plan can always change with Marvel, but for now, we have a point of origin for Doctor Doom, and that has made both the Fantastic Four movie and the two Avengers films must-see.