Marvel Is Stupid For Choosing Kang Over Doctor Doom As Next Big Bad

For many comic book fans, Kang the Conqueror was a strange choice for the MCU to elevate to a franchise-wide villain well before the issues with Jonathan Majors came to light. Kang certainly has a long history with Marvel, first appearing way back in 1964 with Avengers #8, but his importance has mostly been contained to Avengers books. Unlike Doctor Doom or Thanos, Kang has always been generally thought of as an Avengers-specific villain, not a universe-wide player. 

While Doctor Doom is primarily known as a Fantastic Four villain, he quickly outgrew the book, coming into conflict with heroes across the Marvel universe with various interesting dynamics. In one of his earliest appearances Doom stole Daredevil’s body, in another, he temporarily allied himself with Spider-Man until the team-up fell apart. While Kang has various connections to non-Avengers characters, he lacks the long history of interactions with various Marvel heroes that Doctor Doom has. 

Setting up Kang before the introduction of both the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom also does a disservice to one of Kang’s most interesting character details: his heritage. While Kang’s constant time travel and convoluted background make his lineage unclear, it’s implied that Kang is either related to Doctor Doom or to Mr. Fantastic himself. This adds a dramatic element to the character when he interacts with these characters that would be lost by introducing Kang before Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four. 

The horrific real-life crimes of Jonathan Majors are an unfortunate reason for the MCU plans to have to change, but pivoting to Doctor Doom as the new big bad over Kang is the company’s best course of action to bring audiences back. Doctor Doom is an iconic villain with recognition even outside of the comic reading community inspiring rapper MF DOOM and a roller coaster at Universal Studios, making him much more marketable to non-comics fans. Of course, he’s also already beloved by Marvel comics readers, with a legacy going back to the Silver Age and too many great stories to count. 

Doctor Doom is also an obvious choice to replace Kang on a narrative level, given the MCU’s current state. With The Fantastic Four coming out next year, it makes sense to introduce Doctor Doom alongside Marvel’s first family, given the deep connections between Doctor Doom, Reed Richards, and Sue Storm. It also makes sense for Doctor Doom to end the MCU’s much-maligned multiverse saga, as it was Doctor Doom who saved the Marvel Universe from annihilation during the 2015 crossover event Secret Wars, which is set to be adapted for the MCU.