Marvel Officially Confirms The MCU's Kang Replacement

Summary Marvel Studios has decided to replace Kang the Conqueror with Robert Downey Jr. playing Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers movies.

Early fan reaction to Downey Jr.'s casting has been mixed, though the idea of him as Doom in lieu of Kang is a better plan.

Downey Jr.'s Doom will debut in Avengers: Doomsday, with the subsequent Secret Wars expected to serve as a soft reboot of the MCU.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally decided its fate for Kang the Conqueror for the rest of The Multiverse Saga's run. As Marvel Studios is building closer to their next set of Avengers movies, the franchise has had a tricky situation hanging in the air for several months. Following Jonathan Majors' firing after his trial resulted in a guilty verdict, Marvel have been fairly quiet on what they are going to do with the Kang character, given that he was meant to serve as the central antagonist of The Multiverse Saga.

As Marvel Studios hosted their traditional Hall H presentation at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, many had been wondering if their panel would perhaps shed some light on Kang's future within the MCU timeline. With Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige present at Hall H, Kang's fate has officially been determined, as Robert Downey Jr. is replacing him. However, the Iron Man star will be playing Doctor Doom, who is set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, seemingly ending Kang's time in the MCU.

Related 10 MCU Heroes Doctor Doom Could Face After His Inevitable Debut Doctor Doom has been rumored to debut in the MCU's The Fantastic Four, but he could face many heroes than just Marvel's First Family in Phase 6.

Why RDJ As Doctor Doom Is A Better Choice Than Kang

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Even though the initial response to Downey Jr. coming back to the MCU as a new variant has been mixed, the idea of him as Doctor Doom is far more compelling than Kang. While Kang was featured in multiple projects in The Multiverse Saga, there is not the same connection with him as there was with Thanos in The Infinity Saga. However, bringing back Downey Jr. can really stir things up for the MCU heroes, especially those who were close to Tony Stark.

The idea of having the Avengers face off against a villain who looks like the hero who sacrificed himself to undo Thanos' actions in Avengers: Endgame would be more emotionally compelling. If someone like Thor, War Machine, or Spider-Man are included in the equation, it could make Avengers: Doomsday extremely tragic. Given how Avengers: Secret Wars is reportedly going to lead to a soft reboot of the MCU, having Downey Jr's Doctor Doom as, essentially, the final big bad of this iteration of the franchise is only fitting.

It will be intriguing to see how Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom will be tackled as they begin to build towards Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. With the massive lore that exists with Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics, there are a lot of directions they can take this new character for the MCU veteran. Hopefully, more updates on the Doctor Doom plot for the MCU will emerge over the coming months.

How Marvel Could Write Out Kang From The MCU

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Even though they have their new main antagonist, it still begs the question of whether or not the MCU actually plans to give Kang a conclusion in any capacity. It's obvious that they will not have Majors come back to film a final appearance that would wrap up his time in the MCU. However, there are a number of options Marvel Studios could consider for a hypothetical Kang ending without having to use the actor. Another scenario could be to have Downey's Doctor Doom, whenever he enters the story, establish that the reason Kang hasn't been around in the last few films is because he took care of all those variants.

If they want to lean into the ending of Loki season 2, Marvel could have Tom Hiddleston's character play another big role, especially as the last season had him deal with a Kang variant. Since Loki is now the God of Time, he could literally have the power to erase Kang out of existence in the timelines. Another clever Loki tie-in could be to have the TVA deal with Kang variants off-screen, as it would be organic for those characters to be tackling the problem.

What may most likely happen is that Marvel Studios will simply want the audience to forget about Kang and ignore him going forward. If they wanted to add a comedic element to it, they could have Deadpool basically break the fourth wall, address the elephant in the room, and tell the audience, "Marvel really wants you to never think about Kang ever again." Hopefully, the MCU will clarify sooner rather than later if they are going to address Kang at all as they go forward.