Metaphorical and physical ‘doom’ is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Robert Downey Jr. ditching his old Iron Man armor and taking on a very different role as Victor von Doom. While Doctor Doom was once known as a Fantastic Four villain, his many years of scheming against (and occasionally allying with) the Avengers makes him the perfect replacement for Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror.
Even though plans for what was supposed to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty have had to be overhauled, there’s the altogether more exciting prospect of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars breaking records. Fans were promised that a March 26 reveal would top the much-hyped announcement that RDJ was coming back, but little did we know what we were getting ourselves in for. Was anyone expecting a five-and-a-half-hour livestream with just a single actor stopping by?
Doomsday's cast reveal disappoints
In some studio lot, Marvel Studios placed director’s chairs emblazoned with various actors confirmed for the next Avengers movies. Although it’s unclear whether this is just for Doomsday or split over this and Secret Wars, we started with the (expected) confirmation that Chris Hemsworth’s Thor was coming back and then rattled through an A to Z of heroes and villains from Marvel Comics. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the order these actors were announced in, and as soon as Vanessa Kirby was confirmed second as Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman, we didn’t need to wait another five hours to learn Pedro Pascal was suiting up as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. What’s more frustrating is that the likes of the Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts had already been confirmed for the comic book ensemble, meaning their involvement was no real surprise.
With a new name being added every 13 minutes, even watching the Doomsday livestream on the fastest speed made it a real slog. Pray for the poor journalists who had to endure the entire thing simply to add a new name to a list at sporadic intervals. We’ll admit that there was a chuckle when Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man was confirmed via a tiny chair, but apart from that, there was no real reason to watch the entire thing. It’s not that there weren’t some great surprises, and as soon as Kelsey Grammer’s Beast was confirmed, hopes soared that the era of Fox’s X-Men movies wasn’t done. Our prayers were answered with the huge announcements of Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, and James Marsden’s Cyclops, while Channing Tatum’s Gambit is another win.
Unfortunately, as the X-Men reveal highlighted, there are some notable omissions from the list. What about justice for Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey or Halle Berry’s Storm, and where are Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine following the record-breaking success of Deadpool & Wolverine? With thousands of characters introduced since Iron Man kickstarted the MCU in 2008, the Russo Brothers were never going to be able to fit everyone in. That’s before we even get to the potential of the X-Men and others. Closer to home, there’s rightful outrage that supposed MCU cornerstones, including Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the biggest middle finger is a lack of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, although remember he’s set to lead Spider-Man 4 as it slots into the release schedule between Doomsday and Endgame.
More to come...?
Was the entire thing just a way to troll us? Some have picked up how being forced to sit through 5.5 hours of watching empty chairs could be a wink to Spider-Man: Homecoming’s post-credit scene where Chris Evans’ Captain America referred to patience as the ‘key’ to victory. In the PSA, he even says how patience can feel like it’s not worth the wait. Considering neither Holland’s Spider-Man nor Evans’ Steve Rogers were confirmed in the stream, but both are major rumors as MCU staples yet to be announced, conspiracy theorists will say this is one of those genius seeds planted years ago. Despite plenty of frustration that many ‘wasted’ hours just to be underwhelmed, this might not be the end of the story. The official Marvel Studios Instagram account responded when RDJ asked, “That must be it.. Right?” The account confirmed, “There's always room for more,” and sparked speculation that some of our MIA favorites could still pop by.
No matter what audiences think of the Doomsday reveal, we don’t imagine MCU overlord Kevin Feige is too fussed. At a time when the MCU is accused of having peaked long ago, The Walt Disney Company confirmed the stream brought in 275 million digital views and earned a jaw-dropping 3.1 million mentions on social media. As the audience continued to grow as each hour passed, the stream earned five times the social volume of Deadpool & Wolverine’s record-breaking Super Bowl trailer. Well played, Marvel Studios, well played.