Avengers: Doomsday's Main Plot Theory Sounds Exactly Like The MCU's Worst Villain Plan

If the biggest Avengers: Doomsday theory is true, it risks copying the most absurd MCU movie plot to date. Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom arrives just in time to replace Kang the Conqueror as the MCU's new big bad. There's no better Marvel villain to do this, as Doctor Doom needs no prior introduction to steal the show.

One of the biggest mysteries around Avengers: Doomsday is Doctor Doom's plans. Thanos' plan to collect the Infinity Stones and erase life from the universe was clear early on, and even Kang's destructive motivations were laid out masterfully by Loki's He Who Remains. Less than a year ahead of Avengers: Doomsday's release, Doom's scheme is still almost completely under wraps.

Avengers: Doomsday's Most Likely Plot Sounds Too Similar To Thor: Love And Thunder's

Doctor Doom's Plan Might Be About Kidnapping Children, Like Gorr

The few known facts about the MCU's Doctor Doom are his resemblance to Tony Stark and his interest in Earth-828's Franklin Richards. Beyond that, the Russo brothers have said that the Avengers: Doomsday teasers have secret clues about the movie's plot. One of the leading fan theories is that Doctor Doom kidnaps a kid from each team or hero: Franklin from the Fantastic Four, Cyclops' child from the X-Men universe, Touissant from Wakanda, Love from Thor, and Steve Rogers' child.

Franklin Richards is the most dangerous living weapon in the Marvel multiverse. Reed Richards and Sue Storm's son can achieve impossible feats like bringing people back from the dead, something not even Scarlet Witch or the Infinity Stones could do. With Avengers: Secret Wars directly following Avengers: Doomsday, Franklin's power seems like the most logical tool to reshape the multiverse to Doom's image.

The shot of Cyclops removing his visor to cry in Avengers: Doomsday's X-Men teaser may be hiding a secret character. In the final cut, Cyclops may be lamenting his child's disappearance. This kid could be Rachel Summers, whose role as a Phoenix Force host and her nature as a unique character in the multiverse could be helpful to Doctor Doom's plans. T'Challa Jr. and Love's significance may be more personal, possibly fracturing the most influential Avengers and destabilizing the heroes.

Thor: Love And Thunder Has The Worst Villain Plan In The MCU

Gorr The God Butcher Is Most Cartoonish MCU Villain

After discovering the hypocrisy and indifference of the gods, comic-book Gorr embarks on a crusade to exterminate divine beings across time and space. Taking up the title of God Butcher, Gorr systematically hunts, tortures, and slaughters deities across the universe, leaving entire pantheons in ruins. Gorr's ultimate goal is to use a god-killing bomb to erase all deities from existence. The God Butcher’s war against divinity is both physical and philosophical, which makes him one of Thor’s most formidable enemies.

The MCU’s version of Gorr is reduced to a strangely small, cartoonish antagonist whose plan consists of kidnapping children from New Asgard to lure Thor. Instead of butchering gods, the MCU's Gorr barely fights any, let alone kills them, which makes the title “God Butcher” feel like a joke. Even more damaging is Gorr's reliance on Eternity’s wish-granting power at the end of Thor: Love and Thunder. Begging a higher cosmic entity for help is the complete antithesis to Gorr's entire character in the comics.

A child-kidnapping scheme is a risky choice for a Marvel villain, because it inevitably evokes the logic of a Saturday morning cartoon. Child characters can't be harmed in a family movie, so it's clear that the villain won't get too far in their plans, or their plans won't be serious enough. When applied to a character as radical and violent as Gorr, this trope becomes is damaging.

Doctor Doom's Child Kidnapping Plan Would Need To Be More Consequential Than Gorr's

Doom's Goals For The Avengers' Children Must Go Beyond Cartoon Villainy

Again, very little is known about Doctor Doom's plans in Avengers: Doomsday, so it's too early to make solid comparisons. Still, Doctor Doom needs to be as influential as Thanos, if not more. Any weak point in Doom's story or characterization could break Avengers: Doomsday and present Avengers: Secret Wars with unnecessary challenges. If Doctor Doom is to draw inspiration from any previous MCU villain, it should be figures like Thanos, Loki, or the High Evolutionary, not Gorr the God Butcher.

If the child-kidnapping theory is true, then Doctor Doom has one advantage over Gorr. Franklin Richards possesses godlike powers, and Rachel Summers might host the Phoenix Force and have deep ties to the multiverse. Doom could manipulate them to gain their abilities and use them to transform the Marvel multiverse into Battleworld. Targeting the children's powers is a more sensible plan than holding them in a cell until their saviors arrive.

The kidnapped children may also have a link to death and resurrection. Franklin revived Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Rachel Summers' Phoenix Force has brought Jean Grey back to life, Love came back from the dead thanks to her father's wish to Eternity, and Touissant may be able to contact his late father through the Astral Plane. In Avengers: Doomsday, Doctor Doom might be finding a way to bring a loved one back to life.

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  Release Date December 18, 2026

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    Vanessa Kirby

    Sue Storm / Invisible Woman

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    Johnny Storm / Human Torch

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    Ebon Moss-Bachrach

    Ben Grimm / The Thing

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  Release Date July 8, 2022

  Runtime 119 minutes

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    Jane Foster / The Mighty Thor