Warning: The following episode contains mild spoilers from She-Hulk episode 3.
If there is one thing that is consistent in the MCU, it’s that it never goes for a comic book-accurate storyline. It tends to switch and twist it in ways that allow it to fit it into the overarching theme, and the same thing has happened with She-Hulk’s MCU debut. The origin story of the superhero has been significantly altered in the Disney Plus series. But that doesn’t mean the story will opt to alter how the prime antagonist i.e., Titania got her powers. And if She-Hulk chooses to be comic book-authentic while adapting the how part of her powers, we are in for a lot more than just a finale with Jennifer Walters fighting off the self-obsessed Titania.
Spoilers ahead.
So far, there is barely anything we know about the MCU’s version of Titania. She has debuted as a social influencer, Mary MacPherran, with superhuman abilities on par with She-Hulk, who is now her number one enemy. In the first episode of the series, she is seen fleeing her trial and in her attempts to escape, she creates a huge hole in the wall and throws a desk at the jury. But thankfully, Jennifer turns into her superhuman persona and saves the day, landing a solid punch on the clearly egoistic and ruthless Titania, who falls unconscious and is arrested.
Though we are already three episodes in, the series has not revealed how Titania got her superhuman abilities. Did she get her hands on a fresh batch of supersoldier serum, maybe she became a superhuman after being exposed to the Infinity stones (when they existed in the current timeline), or maybe… the MCU will be sticking to how she gained her powers in the comic books — via Doctor Doom.
Who is Doctor Doom and how did he transform Mary into Titania?
In the Marvel comic books, Mary is a short and thin girl in Denver, Colorado, who is often bullied by the popular students in her school. Her only escape is her fantasies, of which one is to get back at whosoever has ever humiliated her by becoming a superhero.
Her dream does get fulfilled eventually when her suburb is attacked by the alien Beyonder. This is when she comes face to face with the villainous Dr. Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom. He is the Supreme Leader of the Kingdom of Latveria (a fictional country in Europe) but more importantly, he is a brilliant scientist as well as a powerful sorcerer.
When he meets Mary, he is looking to amp up his army of supervillains and upon her agreement to be experimented on, he uses advanced alien tech to transform her into her current persona. While she becomes Hulk-like and attains exceptional strength as well as agility, her ego, and overconfidence — which were just simmering below the surface — are blown to unimaginable levels.
How certain is Doctor Doom’s arrival in the MCU?
While initially, the arrival of Doctor Doom in the MCU seemed like a pipe dream, lately the trajectory of Phase Four and beyond is giving heavy hints that one of Marvel’s most exceptional and memorable villains is about to make his debut.
It all started with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which talked at length about incursions — where two or more universes end up colliding and result in the total annihilation of one or all the universes involved. In 2015’s crossover event, Secret Wars, several incursions result in the collapse of the multiverse and what remains is Battleworld, the Doom-created makeshift universe made up of stitched-together remains of many fractured realities ruled by said villain.
MoM ending with the mysterious Clea announcing how Strange has triggered an incursion not only foreshadowed the catastrophic events that took place in Secret Wars, but also hinted at the arrival of Doctor Doom himself.
The possibility was further teased when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s synopsis was revealed, which teased that the Wakandan force will have to unite “to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.” In the Marvel comic books, Doom is one of the Black Panthers’ greatest admirers but also hates his guts. In fact, he is the one who instigated Namor to attack Wakanda, and not-so-coincidentally, the sub-mariner is one of the threats Wakanda will be facing in the upcoming film, and fans can’t help but hope that Doom will also make an appearance, no matter how fleeting, as the ultimate mastermind.
His impending appearance received further support thanks to the announcement of films like Fantastic Four and Avengers: Secret Wars that will begin and culminate Phase Six. But that is years away if he doesn’t appear in Black Panther 2! Thankfully, another opening already exists for his perfect arrival, and that ray of hope is Titania. Though the MCU ditched her comic book history, it can still stick to the origin of her superpowers and reveal that she gained her superpowers thanks to Doom — or maybe he is the mysterious “boss” mentioned in the latest episode of She-Hulk by the Wrecking Crew?
It is very much possible that She-Hulk could be the platform via which the cunning villain makes his MCU debut. Who knows, maybe the post-credit scene of the final episode will give us that much-anticipated peek at Doom? After all, the last baddie i.e., Thanos, who turned the MCU on its head, appeared way back in the mid-credits scene of 2012’s The Avengers before properly making his presence known in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War.
Doctor Doom’s arrival means one thing — Fantastic Four!
If he arrives this soon in the MCU, it will add the necessary fuel to the hopes of fans that they won’t have to wait for Phase Four and Phase Five to be over to finally meet the Fantastic Four. Doom’s animosity with the Fantastic Four is one of the classic superheroes vs villain stories in the Marvel universe and the moment he debuts, we can expect Reed Richards and the team to be just around the corner.
Needless to say, the arrival of or even name-dropping the evil Doctor Doom will bring solace to the diehard MCU fans who are still nursing the sore taste left behind by Reed being reduced to sloppy ribbons by Wanda.
She-Hulk airs weekly, on Thursdays, on Disney Plus.
