The marketing campaign for Avengers: Doomsday has kicked off, and while the teasers are brief, they hint at one of the biggest MCU movies ever made. Considering the movie will be a multiversal adventure that will unite the likes of The Avengers, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, and X-Men against Marvel’s greatest villain, Doctor Doom, played by none other than Robert Downey Jr. Part one of a two-part story that will conclude in Avengers: Secret Wars, Avengers: Doomsday will need to accomplish a lot as it needs to win over skeptical MCU fans who have fallen off in recent years while also matching the hype around Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
While the MCU has drawn from the comics before, the Avengers: Doomsday multiverse story, with dimension-hopping, multiple hero teams, and more, has the chance to deliver on some truly epic, sometimes out-there moments from the comics. Some moments might not fit a traditional entry in the franchise, but Avengers: Doomsday is no ordinary film, and it is not the time to be subtle. These are the wildest moments from the comics we hope to see.
Thor’s Daughter Love Is Captain Universe
When Thor: Love and Thunder first came out, we theorized that Thor’s adoptive daughter, Love, was in fact the MCU’s version of the character, Captain Universe. Created by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden, Captain Universe first debuted in Micronauts #8 from August 1979. Instead of being a particularly individual, Captain Universe is a persona that merges with a host. There have been many Captain Universes in Marvel’s history, with Marvel heroes like Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man all having wielded the identity for a short time. The one common factor about Captain Universe is that they are the Guardian of Eternity, as in the physical embodiment that exists within the Marvel Universe.
Love was brought back to life by Eternity, thanks to the wish of her father, Gorr. Thor: Love and Thunder even shows a shot of Love in the water’s reflection, resembling the Egmia Force that Captain Universe wears. A version of Captain Universe was also part of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers comic run, which is inspiring Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. With Doctor Doom seemingly after all the powerful children in the MCU, he might look to use Love’s connection to Eternity to reshape reality and eventually transform her into Captain Universe, giving the MCU its newest hero.
Doctor Doom Rips Out Thanos’ Spine
One of the easiest ways to establish Doctor Doom as the new MCU’s big bad quickly is to have him make short work of the previous franchise’s central antagonist, Thanos. After all, the MCU established Thanos was a force to be reckoned with by having him kill not only previous Avengers foe Loki but single-handedly take on the team’s ultimate muscle, The Hulk, in the opening minutes. One of the most iconic moments in modern comics is from Secret Wars #8, when God Emperor Doom rips out Thanos’s spine on Battleworld.
While that seems like a moment that should be saved for Avengers: Secret Wars, it also would be a great introduction to Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday to let the audience know that Doctor Doom is not to be messed with. Obviously, in the MCU sacred timeline, Thanos is dead, but given that Doctor Doom will be hopping around the Multiverse, he could do this to a Thanos variant at the beginning of the film. This moment has all but been teased thanks to the Doctor Doom light show that took place at Disney’s Showcase Expo in Shanghai, China.
Magneto and the Scarlet Witch: Father and Daughter
It is currently unconfirmed if Elizabeth Olsen will reprise her role as Wanda Maximoff / The Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Doomsday. Elizabeth Olsen has repeatedly denied her involvement, but so did Chris Evans, and now he is set to reprise his role as Steve Rogers. With Avengers: Doomsday set to feature the X-Men and specifically Magneto, the Marvel Cinematic Universe might finally give fans a moment they have waited years for: confirmation of Wanda Maximoff’s mutant status and her being the daughter of Magneto.
Avengers: Doomsday could feature a variant of the Scarlet Witch from the X-Men universe, one that is the daughter of Magneto, like how the character was depicted for decades before 2014, when Marvel Comics retconned her and Quicksilver’s mutant origins due to wanting to distance the characters from their MCU appearances with the X-Men, whose film rights were controlled by 20th Century Fox. Yet now, both characters are under the same umbrella and can finally crossover. Avengers: Doomsday could show Magneto and Scarlet Witch working side by side in a moment that a decade ago felt impossible.
Mr. Fantastic Beats Up Namor
One of Marvel’s most famous love triangles is between Sue Storm, her husband Reed Richards, and the anti-hero Namor. Namor pines for Sue Storm’s affection, much to Reed’s chagrin. While we don’t expect to see much time devoted to developing the romantic tension between Invisible Woman and Namor, given how busy Avengers: Doomsday will be and that Sue Storm will likely be worried about the safety of her son, Franklin Richards, having Mister Fantastic and Namor trade blows would be a nice reference for comic fans.
Avengers: Doomsday is already expected to feature many fights between heroes and villains, and while one like the Hulk and The Thing sounds awesome, currently Mark Rufallo’s Hulk is not confirmed. However, with Pedro Pascal and Tenoch Huerta both confirmed to reprise their roles as Mister Fantastic and Namor, respectively, this fight seems possible. The brawl, like the one seen in Marvel Knights 4 #8, would also showcase how powerful Reed Richards is and give fans more of his stretching abilities that felt missing from The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Cyclops Wields the Phoenix Force
While the Phoenix Force is typically associated with X-Men member Jean Grey, she is not the only Marvel character to wield the power. With the current Phoenix Force holder, Maya Lopez / Echo, not present in Avengers: Doomsday, and Jean Grey nowhere to be found, we certainly would love to see Cyclops (James Marsden) wield the power. In the comics, Cyclops took on full control of the Phoenix Force in Avengers vs. X-Men, and once again tried to use the power in Secret Wars to battle God Emperor Doom, only for him to fail.
The X-Men-centric Avengers: Doomsday trailer shows Cyclops unleashing a large optic blast, which is normal for the character when he removes his visor. Yet the level of destruction seen in the trailer could hint that many X-Men might have died, including Jean Grey, and in her final moments, could give Cyclops the power of the Phoenix Force. Not only would it make for an incredible set piece and also showcase how powerful Doctor Doom is that even with the Phoenix Force, Cyclops can’t stop the Latverian dictator, but it also allows Marvel Studios to do another attempt at the Phoenix, but not retread old ground like X-Men: The Last Stand and Dark Phoenix while also hopefully getting The Phoenix subplot out of their system so they aren’t tempted to do it again in the MCU in the near future.
Doom Sentinels
The Avengers: Doomsday trailer with the X-Men seemingly teases the Sentinels, as the background behind Cyclops shows what appears to be a giant foot. Rumors have circulated that Doctor Doom will take control of the Sentinels and use them to attack the X-Men. While pitting the 20th Century Fox-era X-Men against comic-accurate Sentinels while wearing the costumes the live-action movies denied them for so long would be iconic, wouldn’t it be better if the Sentinels were giant Doctor Dooms?
In X-Men/Fantastic 4 #2 from 2020, Doctor Doom creates his own Sentinels, ones that resemble Giant Doombots. Doombots are robotic body doubles that Doctor Doom often uses, which also serve as his primary henchmen and a major component of the character that every feature film adaptation has missed out on. Avengers: Doomsday, featuring not just Doombots, but a giant Sentinel-hybrid, not only highlights Doom’s ego, but allows the MCU to not waste a classic Sentinel design right before the franchise does their own version of the X-Men in the Sacred Timeline.
Franklin Richards Summons Galactus
The Fantastic Four: First Steps featured Galactus attempting to take the baby Franklin Richards in order to take his place as the devourer of worlds, only to be stopped by the Fantastic Four. While Franklin Richards is only four years old by the time of The Fantastic Four: First Step‘s post-credit scene, one surely awesome moment that fans want to see in the film is Franklin Richards summoning and commanding Galactus as his own herald, like in Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four #604 from 2012, when an adult version of Franklin Richards resurrected Galactus.
Having a young Franklin Richard summon Galactus to fight Doctor Doom as his own personal guardian is already cool enough. It also could lead right into one of Doctor Doom’s iconic moments from the original 1985 Secret Wars. In the iconic story, Doctor Doom siphons the power of Galactus off to give himself enough power to overtake The Beyonders, something Doom could do in Avengers: Doomsday before creating Battle World for Avengers: Secret Wars. Given that Doctor Doom and Galactus are two of the Fantastic Four’s most iconic foes, Avengers: Doomsday should not miss the opportunity to put them on screen together.
“He’s Captain America, I’m Just Steve Rogers”
Less “wild” and more a much-needed moment. The announcement that Chris Evans would return as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday has been met with a mixed reaction. Some are obviously happy to see Evans return to his most iconic role, but others feel it does a disservice to the MCU’s new Captain America, Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie. It feels like Marvel is giving up and throwing in the towel, returning to an old favorite instead of sticking to the bold new direction they had set after Avengers: Endgame.
Yet, notably, the first Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailer did not say “Captain America will return” but “Steve Rogers” would. This seems to imply that Evans will not be identified as Captain America in the film, and it would be great to see Marvel even take the iconic panel of Steve Rogers telling everyone that Sam Wilson “is Captain America” and that he is just “Steve Rogers.” That still cements Sam Wilson as the Captain America of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and shows that Marvel Studios hasn’t entirely given up yet.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
