Marvel Boss Responds To Biggest Doctor Doom Concern Ahead Of Avengers: Doomsday

You'd have to search far and wide to find fans who didn't love how the Infinity Saga, centered on the threat of the Mad Titan Thanos, ultimately came together and reached a satisfying conclusion in "Avengers: Endgame" — and they have a fairly obvious bone to pick with how Marvel Studios is approaching its next major threat. Technically speaking, Thanos had been teased since the first scene of 2012's "The Avengers" and subsequently threaded throughout several of the films that followed in the lead-up to "Infinity War." By contrast, Robert Downey, Jr.'s eponymous villain in "Avengers: Doomsday" has had exactly one tease in the end-credits sequence of "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."

See the issue?

While fans have been vocal online about the relative lack of buildup to "Doomsday," don't count Kevin Feige among that camp. Soon after the studio's buzzy panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con concluded (in which Ryan Gosling's Ghost Rider was confirmed, along with David Jonsson as our new T'Challa in "Black Panther 3"), Marvel's head honcho spoke with media personality Brandon Davis about this pressing concern and how he feels about this controversy. According to Feige, the Thanos of it all has been somewhat blown out of proportion over time. As he explained:

"The 'Thanos build-up' has built up in people's heads over the years. He sat on a chair [in 'The Avengers']. He put on a gauntlet and said, 'I'll do it myself' [in 'Age of Ultron']. And he yelled at [Lee Pace's] Ronin [in 'Guardians of the Galaxy']. I remember the memes making fun of Thanos for just sitting in a chair."

Feige's not wrong about the revisionist history that's since taken hold ... and he has a perfect response on how "Doomsday" will introduce us to its big bad.

Hmm, maybe this whole idea of building up to the first proper appearance of franchise supervillains is a tad overrated, eh? After all, Heath Ledger sure made quite the impression as Batman's arch-nemesis in "The Dark Knight," despite nothing more than that Joker card tease at the end of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins." Darth Vader, perhaps the most iconic blockbuster villain of them all, needed only his debut scene on that blockade runner to enter the annals of cinema history for good in "Star Wars." Who's to say that Robert Downey, Jr.'s Victor von Doom won't pull off a similar trick with "Avengers: Doomsday," especially with a runtime confirmed to clock in near the 3-hour mark?

That's what directors Joe and Anthony Russo are banking on, but perhaps that fact is worth emphasizing anyway to legions of fans out there. As it turns out, "Doomsday" will parallel "Infinity War" quite closely in this regard. Kevin Feige went on to say:

"When we got to 'Infinity War,' we said, 'This is really the introduction of Thanos to people.' That's how that movie was built. That's what we're doing with Doom. 'Doomsday' is an introduction and [explores] the story of Doom. You peel the onion, you learn things about him as you go. And it is very much meant for audiences that know and love him from the comics and audiences who have no clue who he is."

Do Feige, the Russos, and the entire Marvel team have yet another trick up their sleeves? Given the stiff competition that "Dune: Part Three" will offer up on the same weekend in what's being called "Dunesday," they better hope so. "Avengers: Doomsday" arrives in theaters December 18, 2026.