Avengers: Doomsday is only a year away, but fans are already salivating over the approaching teaser trailer, which will accompany James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash in theaters this week. The highly anticipated upcoming film brings back several all-stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including directors Joe and Anthony Russo and Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr., who will now portray the new big bad of the Multiverse Saga, Doctor Victor von Doom.
Doctor Doom’s arrival is one of the most exciting moments in the history of the MCU, but the character still remains an utter mystery ahead of his first appearance in Doomsday. Unlike Thanos, who served as the main antagonist of the Infinity Saga, audiences have yet to learn anything about Doctor Doom’s origin story or goal in the Multiverse Saga. However, the MCU may have secretly spoiled Doom’s origin two years ago in one seemingly inconsequential scene from Loki‘s second season without anyone noticing.
Did Loki Secretly Reveal Doctor Doom’s Origin Story in the MCU?
Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson on LokiImage via Marvel Studios
In a riveting scene from Loki Season 2, Episode 6, entitled “Glorious Purpose,” Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius M. Mobius may have revealed Doctor Doom’s MCU origin story. During the events of the episode, Loki time-slips back to his original interview with Mobius from the series premiere, where he asks his friend-to-be to clarify the Time Variant Authority’s decision on who gets to live and who gets to die. Mobius responds by telling a sobering story about two TVA Hunters who nearly failed to complete their mission objective:
You wanna hear a good story? Listen to this one: A couple of Hunters went out on a mission somewhere near the Black Sea to find a variant who’s gonna be responsible for 5,000 deaths. 5,000 deaths that were not in the proper flow of time. They get there, and there’s a little hiccup. The variant is an 8-year-old boy. He was just minding his own business, swimming with his brother, jumping off the dock. And one of the Hunters, who had never had troubled with pruning before–he had never hesitated–but, that day, he did. He paused. Timelines started to branch, more variants appeared, it happened so fast, his partner had to step in and prune the kid. But, by then, the cat was out of the bag. A couple Hunters died. All because that one Hunter–he lost sight of the big picture.
As it turns out, Mobius’s story is autobiographical, as he was the Hunter who failed to prune the child. This story works toward Loki’s character arc in the series, helping him realize what he has to do to save his friends. However, several specific details from Mobius’s story could prove to be far more important than they seemed two years ago when the episode first premiered.
Mobius mentioned that this variant lived in a country somewhere near the Black Sea. In the comics, Doctor Doom hails from the Eastern European country of Latveria, which is sometimes shown to be in this same general area. Doom is also precisely the kind of person whose existence or nonexistence would send ripple effects in a timeline. As the dictator of Latveria, Doom could easily be responsible for 5,000 deaths that would not have occurred had he never been born.
Mobius’s story may have been a secret origin for Doctor Doom in the MCU. Audiences know from Loki that pruned variants don’t die, but are rather sent to the Void at the end of time. Many characters, including Loki, Sylvie, Mobius, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Cassandra Nova, have escaped the Void, proving that it is anything but a death sentence. This means that the boy whom Mobius’s partner, Ravonna Renslayer, pruned could have escaped -and gone on to become the villainous Doctor Doom.
What Doctor Doom’s Hidden Origin Story Could Mean for Avengers: Doomsday
Doctor Doom dark reign artImage via Marvel Comics
If Doctor Doom is indeed the boy whom Mobius and Ravonna encountered years before the events of Loki, no one will be safe from his wrath in Avengers: Doomsday. Growing up in the Void, where warlords rule with an iron fist and the monstrous Alioth consumes everything in its path, would be a trial that could break even the strongest heroes. Jaded from a lifetime spent in the Void, Doctor Doom could finally return for revenge against the TVA.
Doctor Doom’s secret origin story would also reveal his relationship with the Sacred Timeline. Many theories suggest that the villain hails from an alternate timeline that has been destroyed by an incursion. This theory presents an even more horrific possibility: that Doom is the only survivor of a timeline that was pruned because of him. With this guilt lingering over his head his entire life, Doom would have every reason to wage war on the TVA and seek the destruction of the Sacred Timeline. The death toll caused by his revenge would then almost certainly exceed the 5,000 lives Mobius and Renslayer supposedly saved all those years ago.
Audiences will learn much more about Doctor Doom and his plan when Marvel begins releasing trailers for Avengers: Doomsday this month. If this theory about Robert Downey Jr.’s villain proves true, Doctor Doom could end up being one of the most tragic characters in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Avengers: Doomsday will open in theaters on December 18, 2026.
Release Date
December 18, 2026
Director
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writers
Stephen McFeely, Michael Waldron, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
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Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
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Joseph Quinn
Johnny Storm / Human Torch
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Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Ben Grimm / The Thing
