Can Doctor Doom beat Thanos? It's an increasingly common question among Marvel fans, with Robert Downey, Jr.'s Doctor Doom set to inherit the title of the greatest enemy of the Avengers from Josh Brolin's Mad Titan, the almighty Thanos.
Underneath Doom's armor, he may be just a mortal - but he's also one of the smartest people on Earth, and the current Sorcerer Supreme in comics, so his skills are nothing to sneeze at. Meanwhile, Thanos is a lot less scary without his vaunted Infinity Gauntlet, but he's still perhaps stronger than any individual Avenger even when he's not wielding the Infinity Stones.
The thing is, Doom and Thanos have in fact fought in comics, most notably in 2015's reality warping mega-crossover Secret Wars - which is of course the basis of Avengers: Secret Wars, which promises to remake the MCU just as the comic remade the original Marvel Universe.
Here's how it went down in Secret Wars, and what that could mean for the MCU.
So without further ado, here it is: Thanos Vs. Doom, the tale of the tape.
Doom Vs. Thanos in Secret Wars
In 2015's Secret Wars, Doctor Doom saves the Marvel Multiverse from destruction by preserving small pieces of it in a conglomerated reality known as Battleworld, on which he was not only supreme leader, but also a being of nigh-godlike power.
When the fight to overthrow Doom and remake the Marvel Multiverse kicks off towards the end of the title, one of the most formidable foes to stand against the menacing monarch is none other than Thanos, the Mad Titan.
Doom starts the fight - if you can ultimately call it that - by observing that Thanos is without the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos taunts Doom that it won't matter, quipping "I do not… Though I remain Thanos, the great tyrant. And for you, that will be enough."
The thing is, Doom is so all-powerful on Battleworld, that he straight up one-shots Thanos, thrusting his hand into the Mad Titan's chest and brutally ripping out his entire spinal column and even his skull, Mortal Kombat style.
And… Yeah. That's the end of Doom vs. Thanos. But what about if the roles were reversed, with Thanos wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, and Doctor Doom at his most powerful level outside of Battleworld, without his godlike mastery of its reality?
To be frank, Thanos has beaten Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Reed Richards over the years with and without the Infinity Gauntlet. He's also beaten them all together, with the entire Marvel Universe having to unite against the arch-villain to take him down.
So even with Doctor Doom at his current power levels, as the Sorcerer Supreme, he'd have a tough time dealing with an unarmed Thanos all on his own - and he'd stand little chance trying to solo the Mad Titan if he were armed with the Infinity Gauntlet. It's simply that insurmountable a weapon.
Doom also recently had to enlist Marvel's heroes to help him take on Doctor Strange's arch-enemy Dormammu, who began his own invasion of the Marvel Universe after Doom took the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme from Strange, so he does have some chinks in his armor.
How could this play out in the MCU?
RDJ's Doom is almost certainly going to follow a similar trajectory as his comic book counterpart heading into Avengers: Secret Wars, with the Latverian monarch likely to create and rule over a version of Battleworld where Marvel's heroes are pitted against each other by his machinations.
There have also been some unsubstantiated rumors that Josh Brolin could return as Thanos for some kind of cameo (as there have been similar rumors about basically every original Avengers cast member).
With that in mind, it's easy to imagine how speculation has leapt to the idea of a confrontation between the Avengers' previous arch-enemy, and the MCU's newest mega-menace. It's also not entirely impossible that such a confrontation could play out onscreen.
If so, I'm personally betting that Doom would take the W, pulling out a Flawless Victory over Thanos much like in the comic, if only to sell just how powerful he is, like an old wrestling champion going down to put over the new star.
That could even be the case if Thanos does have an Infinity Gauntlet, because of the MCU's rule that Infinity Stones only work in their own world of the Multiverse. And that's also true in the Secret Wars comic, where Doom is confronted with a totally impotent Infinity Gauntlet that can't outstrip Doom's mastery over Battleworld.
All that said, I'd love to see Doom take on Thanos in Avengers: Secret Wars, and while the punchline of seeing Doom completely destroy Thanos would be fun (and probably a bit cathartic), it might be more exciting to see them clash at full power, completely battering each other in what could be the MCU's most epic one-on-one fight ever.
What's most likely of all is that we'll see a version of Doom who is strong enough to take on a whole army of Earth's Mightiest Heroes alongside the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, which might in fact make him the actual most powerful MCU villain ever.
Then again, we haven't talked about The Fantastic Four: First Steps villain Galactus yet...
Avengers: Secret Wars is due out in 2027 as part of Marvel Phase 6. In the meantime, be sure to check out our full breakdown of all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows coming soon. And check out our guide on how to watch all the Marvel movies in order
