The Next Avengers Movie Is Officially Rewriting The Multiverse Saga

After years of storytelling across the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios left audiences with an enormous question. Once Thanos fell in Avengers: Endgame, the MCU’s central threat was gone. Fans immediately began searching for the next franchise-defining villain. That answer is finally arriving in Avengers: Doomsday, which will launch the final conflict of the Multiverse Saga and its new big bad, Doctor Doom.

Back when Phase Four began, however, the picture looked very different. Projects from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever through to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania repeatedly pointed toward one looming enemy, and it wasn’t Doctor Doom. Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) was introduced as the architect of multiversal chaos, the figure meant to replace Thanos as the MCU’s new ultimate antagonist.

Now, Avengers: Doomsday must pivot hard. The next Avengers movie isn’t just another crossover event; it’s a course correction. Much of the groundwork laid across Phase Four and Five will need reshaping or outright rewriting. How Marvel executes that shift remains unclear, but the return of the Avengers to theaters will inevitably have to retread, reframe, and possibly retcon years of Kang-focused setup.

The Multiverse Saga Was Supposed To Lead Into The Kang Dynasty

Kang Was Originally Positioned As The Saga’s Thanos-Level Endgame Villain

Marvel’s original roadmap for the Multiverse Saga wasn’t subtle. Much like the Infinity Saga steadily built toward Thanos, the newer era was designed to culminate with Kang. The connective tissue stretched across films and Disney+ series, all feeding into a two-part climax: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty followed by Avengers: Secret Wars.

The structure mirrored Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The Kang Dynasty would have functioned as the catastrophic first strike, with Kang conquering timelines and overwhelming Earth’s heroes. Secret Wars would then serve as the multiversal fallout, adapting Marvel Comics’ massive reality-collapsing storyline on an unprecedented scale.

Phase Four sprinkled breadcrumbs everywhere. Loki introduced Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains, a Kang variant who explained the terrifying inevitability of his counterparts. The TVA, branching timelines, and collapsing realities reframed the MCU’s stakes from planetary to infinite. Suddenly, every decision risked multiversal war.

Other projects quietly aligned with that direction. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hinted at mysterious cosmic signals. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness normalized incursions and fractured realities. The steady introduction of younger heroes like Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) suggested the formation of a Young Avengers team for the coming conflict.

By the time Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania arrived in 2023, Kang was explicitly positioned as the next Thanos. The film framed him as a conqueror even other Kangs feared. The message was clear: this wasn’t just another villain. He was supposed to be the Multiverse Saga’s inevitable endgame.

Marvel Had To Pivot After Quantumania And Jonathan Majors Controversy

Real-World Issues Forced Marvel To Abandon Its Carefully Laid Kang Plans

Despite years of buildup, Marvel’s long-term strategy hit an unexpected wall in the real world. Jonathan Majors, who portrayed every major Kang variant, faced legal trouble following accusations of assault. The situation escalated quickly, overshadowing the studio’s carefully constructed plans.

Jonathan Majors was ultimately found guilty of reckless assault and harassment. Disney responded by severing ties with the actor. Given how centrally Kang depended on one performer playing multiple versions of the same character, the problem wasn’t easily solved with a simple recast.

Marvel could have replaced Majors and continued forward. The MCU has recast characters before without much disruption. However, Kang’s entire mythology relied on subtle performance differences between variants, from He Who Remains to the Quantumania conqueror. Rebuilding that from scratch risked confusing audiences and weakening the character’s momentum.

At the same time, Quantumania underperformed critically and commercially compared to previous Ant-Man installments. Kang’s theatrical debut didn’t generate the Thanos-level excitement Marvel likely expected. Combined with the controversy, the character suddenly looked like a shaky foundation for a billion-dollar saga.

So the studio made a drastic call. Rather than salvage Kang, Marvel pivoted away entirely. The Kang Dynasty was scrapped and reworked into something new. Instead of patching a compromised villain, the Multiverse Saga would now center on a completely different threat, effectively resetting the franchise’s destination mid-journey.

Avengers: Doomsday Is Rewriting The Multiverse Saga

Doctor Doom Must Now Be Positioned As The Multiverse’s True Mastermind

With Kang sidelined, Avengers: Doomsday steps in as both replacement and reinvention. The title alone signals something darker and more definitive. Rather than Kang, the saga will now hinge on Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom - one of the MCU’s most iconic stars playing one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic masterminds - taking control of the multiverse narrative.

That shift from the original plan is massive. Doom isn’t just another warlord; he’s traditionally a genius ruler, sorcerer, and strategist. His threat comes from intellect and ambition as much as brute force. He’s also a vastly different villain to Kang. Positioning Doctor Doom as the ultimate danger changes the flavor of the entire Multiverse Saga from a chaotic time war to calculated domination.

While fans are excited, and Doctor Doom completely works as a Thanos-level threat, the reposition won’t come without challenges. Phases Four and Five repeatedly emphasized Kang as the architect behind everything. Doomsday must somehow establish that Doom was either operating in the shadows or represents an even greater power vacuum created by Kang’s fall. Either explanation requires careful rewriting of existing lore.

The trailers and franchise history-spanning cast list has already established that Avengers: Doomsday will still lean into the concept of multiversal incursions and collapsing universes. The key question is how Doctor Doom will factor into all this, and why Kang is no longer the central threat.

Marvel has plenty of options here. Doctor Doom could emerge as the only figure capable of controlling the destruction, turning catastrophe into opportunity. It’s also possible Kang could have been working for him all along. That framing would allow Doom to seize godlike authority without contradicting too much prior setup.

In effect, Avengers: Doomsday is set to be more than a crossover as far as the wider MCU and Multiverse Saga is concerned. It’s narrative surgery. Marvel isn’t simply escalating the stakes; it’s redefining who the story was really about all along.

Will Avengers: Doomsday Work With Zero Buildup?

History Suggests The MCU Doesn’t Need Years Of Hints To Deliver A Huge Payoff

On paper, introducing Doctor Doom this late into the Multiverse Saga sounds risky (even if he is being played by Robert Downey Jr). Unlike Kang, he hasn’t been teased across multiple projects. There’s no long trail of cameos or cryptic references pointing to his arrival. For a saga built on interconnected storytelling, that absence seems glaring.

Yet the MCU’s history suggests it isn’t a dealbreaker. The Infinity Saga wasn’t entirely constructed around Thanos from day one. Early films focused on individual heroes, not cosmic destiny. The Infinity Stones were background objects long before they formed the backbone of Infinity War.

Thanos himself also appeared sparingly. A few post-credits scenes and brief appearances were enough to establish his menace. The real weight came from execution, not years of overt setup. When he finally took center stage, the story simply worked.

The same principle can apply to Doctor Doom. If Avengers: Doomsday presents him with clarity, power, and immediate consequences, audiences won’t need three phases-worth of foreshadowing. A compelling performance and a strong script can sell the threat instantly.

In some ways, the pivot might even help. Without being locked into rigid breadcrumbs, Marvel has more freedom to craft a tighter, more focused narrative. If done right, Avengers: Doomsday could feel less like a narrative patch job and more like a bold new beginning for the MCU’s next era.