Avengers: Doomsday may be over a year away, but fans aren't waiting for the first trailer to try and figure out just what the movie will actually be about. We know most of the Doomsday cast and that Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom will be the primary antagonist of the film, but exactly what it is he’s trying to accomplish or why is still a mystery. However, some fans think they have it figured out, and the idea certainly makes sense based on what little information we have.
The theory was posited by a fan who recently posted a picture from inside the offices of AGBO, the Russo Brothers' production company, and posted it to X. It’s the image of three MCU character costumes on mannequins, but the choice of which three, and their relative positions, is certainly suggestive.
It's interesting to see Doctor Doom standing next to Sue Storm, with Franklin Richards in front of them. It’s a fairly traditional arrangement for a family photo, leading to the suggestion that these three are family, or at least were in some universe.
So far, the only moment of Doctor Doom we’ve seen in the MCU comes from the mid-credit scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, in which Doom is seen kneeling to get close to young Franklin Richards. The boy doesn’t appear to be in any danger, so these two things together could be evidence that Doom actually cares very deeply for the child.
The idea is that perhaps, in the universe that Doctor Doom is from, Sue Storm and Franklin are his family, or perhaps they were, and something happened to them. This could lead Doom to attempt to multiverse hop in an attempt to find his family again somewhere else.
It’s an interesting idea that we certainly can’t discount based on the evidence we have. Although it should be pointed out that we’ve already seen that plot in another multiversal superhero movie, as it was Kingpin’s motivation in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It didn’t turn out too well for him.
Doctor Doom is a traditional adversary of the Fantastic Four, but we don’t know if this Doom is from the same universe as the ones we met in First Steps or not. The mid-credits scene, which is likely an actual scene from Avengers: Doomsday, might be the first time these characters have crossed paths, or they may actually be well known to each other.
Not everybody responding to this theory on Twitter is fully on board with it, as many expect that Doctor Doom will actually be from the same universe as The Fantastic Four. We’ll find out when the movie hits theaters on December 18, 2026.