Marvel moved away from Kang and towards Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom around the time of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, according to Kevin Feige

Kevin Feige has hinted at Marvel moving away from Kang and towards Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom for the MCU's next Big Bad before Jonathan Majors was dropped by Marvel following the actor's conviction for assault.

"There's nobody we're closer with than Robert. Ever since Endgame, we would see each other quite a lot. It was unspoken for a long time of 'What could we do and how could we do it?'" Feige told Fandango.

"Years went by and we started thinking of this way to do it. I want to say early 2023 and we started saying, 'We actually think this could really work.' I went to his abode and pitched him this idea… He was very excited about it."

The mention of 'early 2023' is likely no coincidence. February of that year saw the emergence of Kang on the big screen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The threequel was tepidly received, with the movie's finale drawing fans' ire for how quickly Jonathan Majors' Kang was defeated.

Majors was then arrested in March 2023 and found guilty in December 2023 of one count of misdemeanor assault and one count of harassment against Grace Jabbari.

Marvel, who had planned for Majors to lead Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, cut ties with the actor.

From there, Marvel Studios course corrected in surprising fashion: Robert Downey Jr. was brought back into the fold, but to play Doctor Doom and not to reprise his iconic role of Iron Man.

Doom will appear in both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The first unveiling of the character – aside from his brief appearance in the Fantastic Four post-credits scene – took place at CinemaCon, with a trailer confirming that Downey Jr. will speak with an accent in the film.

Avengers: Doomsday releases on December 18.

For more, catch up on everything that's happened in the MCU with our guides on how to watch the Marvel movies in order and the Marvel timeline.