Ever since Disney completed their takeover of Fox and acquired the rights to the studio’s roster of comic book characters, we’ve been hearing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has big plans for Doctor Doom. After all, the Latverian dictator is one of the most fearsome and iconic villains in comic book history, although you might not be able to tell if your only exposure to him had been through the movies.
Julian McMahon was woefully miscast and painfully hammy in Tim Story’s mid-2000s duology, while Toby Kebbell kept up his track record of starring in almost exclusively terrible blockbusters in Josh Trank’s infamous reboot. Neither of Doctor Doom’s three live-action appearances so far gave any indication of his reputation among longtime fans, then, or his standing in the pantheon of all-time great bad guys.
There’ve been plenty of rumors making the rounds, though, that Victor Von Doom could be established as the MCU’s next Thanos-level threat, and that only intensified when Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four reboot was officially announced to be in active development. However, another popular line of speculation has linked him with Black Panther 2, something that the latest reports are reiterating.
As per the newest addition to the rumor mill, Doom will be introduced in Ryan Coogler’s sequel as the antagonist pulling the strings behind the scenes, which would relegate Narcos: Mexico star Tenoch Huerta’s previously announced mystery man to the role of secondary villain, a trope that the franchise has relied on multiple times in the past.
That being said, we’ve heard on a number of occasions now that Doctor Doom is going to be involved in Black Panther II somehow, so it wouldn’t be a surprise at this stage if the relentless theorizing turned out to be right on the money.
Published: Jan 12, 2021 11:29 am