In a matter of days, the future doesn’t look so bright for Kang the Conqueror. As soon as Loki season two wrapped up, news started trickling out from the trades that the next Avengers film, The Kang Dynasty, may be in trouble. First, there was the report from Vanity Fair writer Joanna Robinson, co-author of MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, that Quantumania writer Jeff Lovesense is no longer attached to the project. Then came word that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton has stepped down as the director of said next Avengers film, according to Deadline. Things aren’t looking good for Kang and it seems Marvel is beginning their transition away from the character. But maybe the MCU isn’t as “doomed” as it seems.

It’s no secret that Kang hasn’t quite worked out for Marvel the way they thought he would. Propped up as being the next Thanos, Kang as a character has been foiled quite a few times now on screen, including once by ants of all things in Quantumania, which already reduced his threat level in the eyes of the audience. How could someone who is supposed to be so menacing be taken out so easily? Then there’s the legal troubles of actor Jonathan Majors, who has been accused of and arrested on domestic violence allegations, something the actor denies but regardless will see him going to trial. Majors was dropped from his agency and many other projects, yet Marvel has held onto him as he was the big card they were going to play and they had already invested quite a bit of time and money into Kang’s rise within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the departure of the two lead creatives attached to the project so soon after the Loki finale, where he played a role in the overall narrative as another variant, it does suggest a narrative that the studio is beginning to pivot away from Kang as the next major threat, cutting its losses and moving onto a new foe. If that’s the case, there can be only one main villain that Marvel should even consider.

Marvel is about to unveil the cast for their reboot of the Fantastic Four, with word that Pedro Pascal is in the final steps of negotiations to lead Marvel’s First Family in the MCU. It’s slated for a May 2025 release, which is a year from when Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was set to release and two years before Avengers: Secret Wars is due. While Kang is certainly the one that’s been set up more, there’s been a lot of talk about Secret Wars behind the scenes as well, which will be a cosmic-level event-styled film based on the beloved comic run. A key villain in both Fantastic Four and Secret Wars is of course, Doctor Doom, who made his debut all the way back in 1962 and is considered to be one of the greatest comic villains of all time.

Doctor Doom was probably always in the cards for Secret Wars, the comic book arc that sees him being the God Emperor of Battleworld, but now the arc leading up to that event will likely shift to focus much more on Doom and his plans. Sure, Marvel could just recast Majors as Kang if they’re worried about the actor, but the character hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations and standards that Thanos set. So a quick pivot to have Kang perhaps be more of an enforcer to Doom could be the way to go here, that way they can keep the character in play and not squander his narrative to date, but move away from him being the main threat as initially pitched. So much of this arc just makes more sense with Doom at the helm anyway so it wouldn’t be a radical, or dare I say, unpopular, decision. In fact, considering the recent troubles over at Marvel in terms of reception (I’m looking at you, Secret Invasion) and box office numbers, readjusting the narrative to put a bigger emphasis on a more beloved and iconic threat, one with major connections to the Fantastic Four and to Secret Wars. Likewise, executives over at Marvel did talk about the prospect of pivoting to Doom at a summit in Palm Springs, per the lengthy exposé on Marvel that Variety ran in October 2023, so it may be that the studio is acting on those plans now.

But what do you think? Is the departure of the writer and director for The Kang Dynasty coupled with the legal woes of Jonathan Majors herald a shift in direction for the studio? Or does all this amount to the old familiar “creative differences” and we’ll see Kang headline his own feature no matter what? Let us know!