Almost a year ago, Marvel Studios left fans in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con (and fans who were not in attendance) shook when it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr. would play Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. All of that came after Jonathan Majors was dropped from his role as Kang the Conqueror due to being tried and found guilty of multiple charges, including assault. I’ve been curious about the exact timeline of the switch from Kang to Doom and, now, Kevin Feige is providing some clarity on that front.
Kevin Feige Explains When Marvel Studios Shifted Away From Kang For Doom
It may be easy for some to infer one thing about Marvel Cinematic Universe’s transition from Kang the Conqueror as the Multiverse Saga’s Big Bad to Doctor Doom. The obvious assumption could be that the Doom idea was initiated in the aftermath of Jonathan Majors’ firing. However, I’d long wondered if that was definitely the case, and it seems it wasn’t. Kevin Feige recently took part in a wide-ranging discussion with news outlets, including THR, and he set the record straight on why Doom was brought into the picture:
We had started even before what had happened to the actor happened, we had started to realize that Kang wasn’t big enough, wasn’t Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be that, because he was that in the comics for decades and decades. Because of the Fox acquisition, we finally had it and it was Dr. Doom. So we had started talking about Dr. Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. And in fact, I had started talking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious idea before Ant-Man 3 even came out. It was a long plan that we had had to take one of our greatest characters and utilize one of our greatest actors.
getting Robert Downey Jr. to play Victor von Doom pre-dated Jonathan Majors’ legal entanglements. What I find particularly interesting is that these discussions apparently even came before Kang’s big-screen debut in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I have to say that I personally enjoyed Kang as a character and was curious to see how he and his variants would be a threat in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (which ultimately became Doomsday).
Jonathan Majors’ casting in the third Ant-Man film broke in late 2020, with many expressing curiosity about the then-rising actor reportedly taking on the role of Kang the Conqueror. From there, Majors made his MCU debut as a Kang variant named He Who Remains during Loki Season 1, and he later reprised that role and portrayed Victor Timely in Season 2. In addition to playing Kang in Quantumania, Majors also appeared as the variants Rama-Tut, Centurion and Immortus during the film’s mid-credits scene.
In April 2023, the Creed III star was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, and the case eventually went to trial in November of that same year. The verdict was delivered in December 2023, with Majors being found guilty on a charge of reckless assault in the third degree and a charge of harassment as a violation. Also acquitted on a charge of assault and aggravated harassment, Majors was eventually sentenced to 52 weeks of probation and ordered to take part in a domestic violence intervention program.
Jonathan Majors has since revealed that he wrote a letter to Kevin Feige in the aftermath of the verdict coming down. Not only that, but Majors expressed interest in returning as Kang. Still, Feige and co. are now fully on track to bring Doctor Doom to life once more on the big screen. Regardless of how everything ultimately shakes out, I’m just glad to finally have some clarity regarding Doom’s entrance and Kang’s exit.
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18, 2026. While fans wait, they can stream other MCU movies as well as TV shows on Disney+.