Doomsday Could Not Be Better

Those in search of the proper Marvel warm-up before Avengers: Doomsday arrives this December have to look no further, as this 2026 release brings together powerful heroes to fight Doctor Doom. When Robert Downey Jr. was announced as the main star of Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast, playing Doctor Doom, it was clear that the hierarchy of power in the MCU was about to change.

So far, he has only appeared once in the MCU’s slate of releases, with Victor von Doom’s face not shown in his The Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scene cameo. That will change soon, with Avengers: Doomsday‘s story seeing Doctor Doom fight multiple superhero teams, such as the New Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and more. Before that, a different 2026 Marvel release puts Doom front and center.

Venom Is Fighting Doctor Doom With The Perfect Marvel Team In 2026

A few months before Doctor Doom fights Chris Evans’ Captain America and other Marvel heroes on the big screen, fans can take to an exciting book to get warmed up for the event of the year. Written by DaVaun Sanders, Marvel: What If…The Multiverse Was Doomed? sees Loki, the Scarlet Witch, Venom-Moon Knight, America Chavez, and Kitty Pryde (Phoenix Force) team up.

The Marvel book, which will be released August 4, assembles a team of multiverse heroes to stop Doctor Doom from using Franklin Richards’s reality-altering powers to bend everything to his will. As far as multiversal teams go, the one from the upcoming book is perfect. For starters, it puts together the main characters of four previous novels in the Marvel: What If… franchise.

Additionally, the team is fun, with magical characters like Loki and the Scarlet Witch interacting, something MCU fans have long asked to see. The multiverse heroes selected for the mission are also incredibly powerful. Venom and Moon Knight’s combined might ups the level of the Fist of Khonshu, while America Chavez can punch holes in the multiverse’s fabric, and Kitty Pryde with the Phoenix Force is near-omnipotent.

As for Loki and the Scarlet Witch, their MCU counterparts have shown just how powerful those two characters can be. This multiverse roster of heroes makes for a unique match. With more classic combinations expected for Avengers: Doomsday, I believe that this fresh idea for the book comes as the perfect warm-up for that big-screen adventure.

Could Venom Fight Doctor Doom In Avengers: Doomsday?

When it comes to fighting Doctor Doom in 2026, many Spider-Man fans hold out hope that Tom Hardy’s Venom could do it in Avengers: Doomsday. That is not impossible, as the multiverse opens the door to characters from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe crossing over, which Hardy’s Eddie Brock has done before. Besides, a piece of the symbiote is in the MCU.

As such, Eddie Brock could become Venom once again by joining the MCU, another character could bring about Venom’s return, or Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could don the symbiote suit in Avengers: Doomsday. That said, given how Holland himself is unconfirmed for the Marvel movie, Venom fighting Doctor Doom would be a more likely proposition for 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.