Ahead of the Fantastic Four release this weekend, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has shared some secrets about the past, present and future of the MCU, including why Marvel decided to drop Jonathan Majors' Kang and introduce Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom as the franchise's new big bad.
"We had started even before what had happened to the actor happened, we had started to realize that Kang wasn't big enough, wasn't Thanos," said Feige during a small press conference (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Majors was dropped by Marvel after he was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment. The actor had starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and was positioned to play the new major villain in the MCU, with Avengers 5 originally called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty before being renamed Avengers: Doomsday.
According to Feige, Marvel was already preparing to pivot away from Kang before Majors was convicted, and even before Ant-Man 3 delivered disappointing results at the box office – it's one of the very few Marvel movies to fall short of the $500 million mark.
Kang forgotten, the Marvel producer said that "there was only one character that could be like Thanos" because he was that in the comics for decades and decades.
"Because of the Fox acquisition, we finally had it, and it was Doctor Doom. So we had started talking about Doctor Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. And in fact, I had started talking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious idea before Ant-Man 3 even came out. It was a long plan that we had, to take one of our greatest characters and utilize one of our greatest actors," he revealed.
Robert Downey Jr's return to the franchise as Doctor Doom was announced during the 2024 Comic-Con, where it was revealed he will be the main villain in the upcoming Avengers movies, Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The character is not expected to make an early MCU debut in Fantastic Four, according to director Matt Shakman, but we will keep an eye on the film's post-credit scenes just in case.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25 as the first Marvel Phase 6 movie. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else that's on the way.
