The MCU has just revealed a perfect way for it to begin setting up Doctor Doom’s story within one 2025 release, and I can’t believe the way it looks like it can tie two stories that might otherwise appear entirely unrelated together. With Avengers 5 going from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday – and swapping Kang for Doctor Doom along the way – how the pre-existing pieces of the MCU timeline will fit together to form the next chapters of the franchise’s story does appear in some ways less clear than ever. However, this doesn’t mean the MCU is now unable to use what came before.

With the Multiverse Saga having years of films to draw upon – and still being able to further use the building blocks of the MCU movies that were released before then, as well as Marvel’s broader history – it seems the franchise should have no struggles in terms of bringing one of its most iconic Marvel villains to the forefront of things, both in terms of his story and his powers. That said, the MCU’s 2025 releases look set to help make Victor Von Doom’s debut even easier and more impactful, thanks to some of the latest reveals about one upcoming Marvel release.

Doctor Doom Is The Focal Villain Of Avengers: Doomsday (& Could Appear Even Before Then)

As one of Marvel’s most long-running and well-known characters, it’s no surprise that Doctor Doom is now entering the MCU. However, this is a striking move in the sense that the Fantastic Four and their ᴀssociated villains – of which Doom is the most prominent – have remained off-screen until now, meaning the MCU will have to make more active efforts in terms of tying their stories together with the pre-existing parts of the universe and multiverse, rather than simply being able to draw from their established story within the franchise and its almost two-decade-long run thus far.

Avengers: Doomsday is set to bring Doctor Doom’s story into the spotlight of the MCU in a major way, with the Marvel character becoming the franchise’s lead villain for its fifth Avengers movie, which is thus sure to show him at the top of his game in terms of his power level and the danger he can pose the franchise’s heroes. Indeed, it seems that Doom’s role and significance may well carry into Avengers: Secret Wars, since the Secret Wars comics that look to inspire its story tend to place him as a central figure in their own epic narratives.

With that said, it’s also possible that Doctor Doom will make his MCU debut and begin to establish himself as a threat before either of these releases – especially with Avengers: Doomsday being pushed back to a later December 2026 release date – which could well make him begin his story as a central Marvel movie villain long before Doomsday itself brings things to a boil. For example, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman has stated Doom is not in the film, this doesn’t preclude the villain from a potential post-credits appearance, as has been theorized to be the case for the next MCU movie.

The MCU’s Ironheart Story Is Setting Up Some Key Story Concepts For The Franchise That Can Help Doctor Doom’s Debut Work

The latest Ironheart trailer provided a series of interesting preview moments for viewers, but by far the most interesting of these is that of the moments that appear to show Riri Williams using magic to enhance the suit and its capabilities. While we already knew her story in the MCU show involves her deciding whether to work with Marvel magic-user The Hood or not, it seems the series will delve further into magic in the franchise via allowing Riri to experiment with intertwining the capabilities of magic and science to create a potentially even more useful combination of the two.

Interestingly, combining magic and science is something that’s primarily ᴀssociated with Doctor Doom in Marvel’s lore, since the scientist is capable of using both to great success and has done so throughout his history – a skillset that often works well to set him apart from other Marvel characters, who, more broadly speaking, tend to lean more into either utilizing magic or science rather than both. With Doom’s own armor often also being upgraded via his scientific know-how and his magical talents, having Riri introduce the idea and show how it can work could help Victor von Doom’s introduction in some major ways.

Setting Up How Magic & Science Can Be Combined In The MCU Makes Ironheart Even More Important

In the early and arguably somewhat more grounded days of the MCU, the franchise was especially careful to try and make sure its use of larger-than-life science was at least balanced with as much realism as they could afford to ensure its movies didn’t feel so fantastical that it sabotaged audience engagement. While this isn’t as possible for the concept of magic, the MCU has also been careful to not make magic a cure-all, and rather ramp up what’s possible for magic-users like Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch over time.

With this backdrop in mind, having Riri start to combine magic and science to enhance her suit is a great way to continue this approach, since it allows the MCU to begin showing what could be possible in this regard, rather than just immediately having to explain and justify Doctor Doom’s own skillset with less of a direct setup to be able to pull from. As such, Ironheart’s story and timing seem perfect in terms of also helping provide crucial context for the MCU’s impending version of Doom himself.

Since Riri’s connection to Iron Man is now far harder for the MCU to explore as a result of his death in Avengers: Endgame – meaning the comic bond developed between Tony Stark and Williams appears to have missed its opportunity to get an MCU adaptation – allowing Ironheart to be important in the franchise via showing how her understanding of why and how Doctor Doom has the powers he no doubt will in the MCU could be an effective way to underline her significance in a new way. It also sets up the prospect of a seriously interesting conflict between the two, if Riri or Doom see these parallels between them.