Aside from dealing with a declining trend in their content quality, Marvel also has its hands occupied with redirecting the MCU’s multiversal narrative away from Jonathan Majors’ Kang. The world-conquering supervillain was initially supposed to succeed Thanos as the MCU’s next big bad. However, legal issues with Majors ultimately forced Marvel executives to fire the actor and swap his character with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. A recent rumor has finally given fans insight into how Marvel intends to transition from Kang to Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.
Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars to only have a Kang name-drop at best
The speculation suggests that Kang’s storyline will majorly be handled off the screen. Therefore, both Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars are expected to merely tease Kang by mentioning the character’s name.
The discouraging update was first circulated by industry scooper Cryptic4KQual. Theorizing about Kang’s fate in Avengers: Doomsday, the X (formerly Twitter) user shared that Marvel is actively trying its best to do away with the character. “Last [I] reported, his role was gonna be diminished, and it seems now they’re aiming for no presence whatsoever. Most [we get] is a Kang namedrop,” he stated.
Kang the Conqueror made his MCU debut in 2021 with the Tom Hiddleston-led Disney+ series Loki. Season 1 revealed the character to be a multiversal being with powers that supersede the concept of time and space. The iconic antagonist, portrayed by Jonathan Majors until his firing, was next explored in 2023’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. The movie gave fans the first glimpse at the Council of Kangs, solidifying his status as a major threat.
Nevertheless, Marvel has since scrapped the Kang narrative and will now focus on Doctor Doom’s misadventures in Avengers: Doomsday. From the looks of it, Majors’ character will only receive a brief namedrop in Avengers 5 and 6. As such, fans can expect Kang to be completely absent from the MCU’s upcoming projects.
That said, Kevin Feige and the Russo brothers have yet to share any plot details regarding the Avengers movies. At the time of writing, Avengers: Doomsday is slated to hit theatres on May 1, 2026. Meanwhile, its direct sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, is scheduled to premiere on May 7, 2027.
