The sheer scale of Avengers: Doomsday is one of its greatest strengths, and as exciting as that is, it’s also its biggest risk. The film, which arrives on December 18, brings together over 25 confirmed characters, and with more announcements still expected, a section of the fan base fears two of Doomsday’s most important figures could get lost in the crowd.
These two figures are Robert Downey Jr.’s (RDJ) Doctor Doom and Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards. Of course, Marvel fans will expect these two adversaries, who have been at each other’s throats for decades in Marvel Comics, to do the same in the MCU. RDJ’s villain is reportedly the film’s main character, described by insider Alex Perez as the “hero” of Doomsday in the same way Josh Brolin’s Thanos was the “hero” of Avengers: Infinity War.
With Reed Richards leading the Fantastic Four, it’s natural to expect him to cross paths with Doom a lot, especially since the Latverian seeks to harness the power of his son, Franklin Richards. But is there enough screen time for their beef to be effectively established? Other A-list characters also need their arcs addressed. We need to know why Steve Rogers is back, what’s happening with the X-Men, how Loki’s God of Stories arc plays into the plot, alongside an almost insurmountable list of questions that need answers.
How do the Russo brothers resolve all these arcs and still give Reed and Doom enough screen time to get their rivalry going in the MCU? Well, the answer lies in their best work, Infinity War.
Avengers: Doomsday Needs To Borrow From Infinity War’s Playbook
Avengers: Infinity War brought together the largest cast in MCU history at the time. The Russo Brothers could have let that scale work against them, splitting focus so many ways that no single story felt meaningful. Instead, they made Thanos the protagonist. His reason for gathering the Infinity Stones, a complete detour from his motivations in the comics, gave the film a spine. Every hero encounter felt like a scene from his story, not a detour from theirs.
This incredible style of storytelling is what Doomsday needs to replicate. The good news is that Doctor Doom is uniquely suited for the role. His history with Reed Richards stretches back to college in Marvel Comics, and this can be blended into his arc. Doom is already reported to be on a revenge quest in Doomsday, harbouring a vendetta against the multiverse. Involving Reed in this quest for revenge would work brilliantly to establish their comic-book rivalry.
Also, the comics offer a rich roadmap for how this rivalry should look on screen. From their first meeting as students, where Reed spotted a flaw in Doom’s equation and Doom refused to believe it, their dynamic was always complex. Since we don’t know Doom’s past in the MCU, Doomsday can establish that Doom and Reed have known each other for years, with tensions already existing.
A more intriguing storyline the Russos could borrow from is Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars from 2015, the definitive payoff for everything that run built toward. After the Multiverse collapses, Doom seizes the Beyonders’ power and becomes the God Emperor, the last ruler of a patchwork world called Battleworld, stitched together from the ruins of dead universes.
Doom ruled Battleworld for eight years and married Sue Storm. Interestingly, when Reed finally confronts him, Doom admits that Reed would have done it better after a fierce battle. He relinquishes his godhood, and Reed, in turn, heals Doom’s scarred face after receiving the power of the Beyonders. The film doesn’t need to faithfully adapt these storylines, but it could draw inspiration from them.
Why Doomsday Needs To Set up Reed Richards’ & Doctor Doom’s Rivalry
Reed and Doom’s rivalry cannot be skipped, but the Russo Brothers face a significant structural challenge. Thanos had years of build-up in the MCU before Infinity War. Glimpsed in post-credits scenes, teased across the Infinity Saga, he arrived in 2018 as a villain audiences had been waiting to truly meet. Doctor Doom has had none of that runway.
Apart from a brief tease at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Doom steps into Avengers: Doomsday as a near-total unknown in the MCU. This makes the setup of his beef with Reed all the more important. The film will have to introduce the rivalry in the villain’s debut to help audiences recognize his main adversary. This is especially important for casual fans who have no idea about their comic history.
With Doom’s villainous perspective shaping the film, putting Reed at its center will make their history clear, and audiences won’t need years of setup. Reed cannot be a passive figure at all if this is to be done effectively. In Infinity War, Thanos’s greatest scenes came through confrontations with Gamora and Thor and the consequences of his own beliefs.
For Doom, those confrontations need to happen with Reed more than they do with any other character. Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic is basically Doom’s mirror, his obsession, the man whose shadow he never escaped. The Russos could make their scenes feel like a chess match, not just in power but also in intellect.
The two-film structure of Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will make this somewhat easier. The Russos do not need to complete the rivalry in a single movie. What they need to do in Doomsday is establish it, make it feel genuine, and make it matter, so that when Secret Wars arrives in 2027, the stakes are at an all-time high.
