Marvel Studios finally just debuted the iconic villain who could be set to replace Kang

Warning: This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 episode 8.

X-Men ’97, how do you just keep getting better and better? In the opening chapter of its three-part finale, the acclaimed animated series just upped the stakes higher than ever before as Theo James’ uber-villain unleashed his evil plan for world domination and mutant subjugation.

Speaking of villains, sentient Sentinel Bastion was revealed to be in cahoots with an iconic foe from Marvel lore, one who is on the cusp of making a major mark on the MCU in the coming years. Of course, X-Men ’97 is set within a continuity that’s separate from that of Earth-616 19999, but the fact that this character has finally made their long-awaited Marvel Studios debut no doubt is a mere teaser of the franchise-shaking things ahead for this antagonist.

But which antagonist? Enter… Doctor Doom.

How Doctor Doom just made his Marvel Studios debut

X-Men ’97 episode 8, “Tolerance is Extinction, Part 1,” includes a scene where Bastion is monologuing about the long game he’s been playing to destabilize mutant-human relations. We see that he’s in his lair, speaking to a wall of screens depicting some very familiar faces. Without it being spelled out, we can infer that Bastion’s plan has been achieved in collaboration with some of the most dangerous villains in the Marvel universe.

One glimpsed is Baron Zemo, obviously already known to MCU fans thanks to Daniel Bruhl’s portrayal in Captain America: Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Another is a woman whose face is kept in shadow. She has yet to be identified, but our best bet is that she’s Viper/Madame HYDRA. The third is easily the most significant addition to the show’s mythos, however; Victor Von Doom.

Doom only has one line in the episode, but it immediately does a perfect job of capturing the ruler of Latveria’s complicated morality. In response to Bastion’s mutant massacre on Genosha, Doom says, “Do not mistake Doom’s collusion as indifference to flagrant war crimes.”

In just one line of dialogue, Marvel Studios has already given us a more authentic iteration of Doom than Fox managed across three Fantastic Four movies, so let’s hope this is able to be carried over to live-action when he eventually appears in the MCU proper. If we’re lucky, that could be as soon as July 2025’s The Fantastic Four. Failing that, then Avengers 5 or Secret Wars, as he’s everyone’s first choice to replace Kang as the Multiverse Saga’s big bad following Jonathan Majors’ firing.

We have a lot to be thankful for about X-Men ’97 already, but now we can add “introducing Doctor Doom into the fold” to the list. And just in time for this summer’s Fox-apalooza aka Deadpool & Wolverine to boot.