The list of Marvel Avengers who’ll go toe to toe with Robert Downey. Jr’s big bad Doctor Doom is getting longer by the minute. All the major capes remaining, as well as more recently introduced MCU characters, are bound to show up if movie history is to repeat itself.
Part of Avengers: Endgame‘s success was the sheer size of its web. Everyone we cared about showed up for the climactic fight. With Avengers: Doomsday coming at the tail end of the multiverse saga, it’s anyone’s bet just how many superheroes will make the cut. One thing’s for sure, though, Benedict Wong wants to get his lumps in.
Wong told Comic Book Movie he’s up to the task, saying “Hey, well, look, I’m all for it. I’m ready!” He also pointed toward his character’s promotion to sorcerer supreme — Wong took up the mantle when Stephen Strange was snapped out of existence by Thanos’ infinity gauntlet. Wong added, “he’s been promoted to Sorcerer Supreme so it’s all in the hands of the Marvel universe to see where we go with it. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
The role involves assessing magical and mystical threats, similar to what the Avengers do as a unit. That’s why we saw him at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Wong has a vital part to play in protecting Earth. When strange artifacts show up or new kids on the block go viral for unsubtly battling bad guys on the streets of New York, you can bet Wong will have one eye on it.
The lack of a confirmed Doomsday cast list means we don’t know if his wish will come to fruition — it’s a shame Wanda Maximoff isn’t around to simply make it so. However, Wong has been in the MCU since 2016’s Doctor Strange, so he’s earned his stripes.
The Avengers will need all the help they can get
He’ll need them; Doom isn’t your everyday villain. The cold genius is a powerful foe because of the combination of his intellect and sorcery. The Downey Jr. casting makes boatloads of sense, given how Doom is kind of an evil, polluted by dark magic, Tony Stark. While both of them are prone to little narcissism and justify their every move, Doom is Tony’s occasional megalomania taken to the extreme.
The similarities end there. Doom is a much sulkier, brazen figure. Tony likes to perform for the world, but Doom avoids it behind a mask while ruling over the reclusive fictional Eastern European nation of Latveria.
We love you, Wong, but we need the big guns. Thankfully, the Avengers are inherently a collaborative force. The team combines the best of magic, technology, and superhuman biology. Given how the multiverse will likely be at stake, there might also be a call for anti-heroes like Deadpool and the (hopefully not dead) Scarlet Witch.
In good news for his lovable and often grumpy character, Wong isn’t the only Marvel star eager to take a bite out of Doom. Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes, said he’d love to get in on it, too. There are rumors surrounding other characters who may take point on the crusade, but we expect Captain Marvel and Anthony Mackie’s Captain America to be at the front of the action.
While there are no official details about Wong’s inclusion, he was in Endgame so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in the fold. Marvel’s Agatha All Along series reenergizing the fanbase’s interest in magic won’t hurt his chances either.