Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is a new way to collect Pokémon cards that feels like a dream come true for collectors. The upcoming app for iOS and Android lets you rip open digital booster packs, organize your ever-growing collection of digital cards, and show off your favorites to your friends. I attended a preview event to play a demo of Pokémon TCG Pocket and chat with the game designers from Creatures and The Pokémon Company. Here’s what I learned about how the game’s collection, customization, and battling systems work.

Pokémon TCG Pocket Is All About Collecting Pokémon Cards

Whereas most Pokémon games tend to focus on battling, Pokémon TCG Pocket emphasizes the fun of collecting Pokémon cards. The app does offer the option to battle with your cards (more on that later), but dedicates a majority of its features to obtaining new cards, organizing them in your collection, and giving you numerous ways to showcase your favorites.

The Game Showcases Pokémon’s History of Iconic Artwork

Pokémon cards are famous for their especially eye-catching artwork. Over the years, Pokémon has only become more creative with their card designs. There are cards with artwork featuring abstract paintings, photographs of clay models, and even crochet dolls. Pokémon fans are truly spoiled with the amount of excellence poured into every card and the sheer variety of art on display. All of that is front and center in Pokémon TCG Pocket. The linework looks sharp and the colors are vibrant on the digital screen. The rarer a card is, the more flair it has, from shiny holofoil to 3D elements that make it pop out of the frame.

The game includes cards that fans will recognize from the physical Pokémon TCG as well as brand new cards created just for Pocket. Then there are new twists on classic cards. For example, the game has a Slowpoke card with its original Base Set artwork, and then a full-art variant that removes the frame to reveal lots of other Slowpoke crawling all over the card in humorous fashion.

You Can ‘Enter’ the Cards to See the World Beyond the Border

Pokémon TCG Pocket’s big showstopper that you won’t find anywhere else is its extremely rare but extremely awesome immersive cards. The first set, called Genetic Apex, has over 200 different cards, but only three of them are special immersive cards. Activating one of these card’s immersive effects takes you into the world of the card. The immersive Pikachu card starts out with art of a Pikachu in a forest. Then you’re taken on a quick, guided tour past the borders of the card and into the forest where various other Pokémon can be seen, from a herd of fiery Ponyta to a pair of Nidoran playing together. 

I won’t spoil the surprise of what happens in two particular immersive cards. I will say that I was impressed by how they were completely different from the Pikachu one, with their own unique music and visuals. These immersive cards were exciting to open up and practically begged for multiple viewings in order to catch a glimpse of all the cool Easter eggs inside. It’s nice to see that the game designers are taking full advantage of the digital format by doing cool things with the cards that can only happen in a digital space.

You Can Fully Customize Your Collection

Collecting the cards is only the beginning. When you get a new card, it populates on your Collection Board, which has filters to present your collection in different ways. Then, you’re free to show off your cards however you want. You can upgrade cards to have different kinds of flair. That’s right, now there’s no one to stop you from having the most sparkly Bulbasaur card there ever was. You can fill up one of many decorative binders with different cards you want to show off together. There’s also the option to pick a card to give the art-show treatment where it’s displayed on a fancy pedestal. When finish customizing your collection, you can put these various things on display for those on your friends list to see. 

The Battling System Is Pretty Much Pokémon’s Marvel Snap

Pokémon TCG Pocket’s battling system is a simplified version of the physical game. The deck size has been reduced from 60 cards to 20. The Bench went from five Pokémon slots to three. Energy cards have been removed entirely and replaced with an energy-generating system that provides one energy to attach to your Pokémon each turn. Instead of winning the game by taking six Prize cards, players must earn three points to claim victory. Players earn points by knocking out a Pokémon, with two points for defeating the more powerful Pokémon ex.

Pokémon TCG Pocket was designed by Creatures, the same folks who make the physical Pokémon TCG. “We really focused on [Pokémon TCG Pocket] perhaps being [a person’s] first experience and making it more friendly to new players,” Ryo Tsujikawa, Creative Director at Creatures, told us in a group interview. “There are fewer complicated elements in it, and fewer attacks on the cards, compared to the physical TCG.”

As a competitive Pokémon TCG player, I was fascinated to see how the game was reinvented for Pocket. Its matches that lasted five-ish minutes reminded me of Marvel Snap and its pared down game mechanics were reminiscent of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links. After using my beginner deck a few times to beat the computer on easy mode, I borrowed the Pokémon rep’s phone with a fully unlocked collection to use his Mewtwo ex deck. With a more advanced deck in my hands, I tried to win on the hardest difficulty. To my surprise and delight, the computer made strategically sound moves and kicked my butt with an Exeggutor ex deck filled with healing cards such as the Potion item and Erika’s supporter card.

How to Battle Other Players

In addition to fighting the computer, Pocket allows you to battle other players both locally and remote. I used the Auto-Build feature to generate a deck built from my modest collection and challenged another journalist to a battle. In the physical Pokémon TCG, Pokémon do such high damage that they knock out opposing Pokémon in just one or two attacks. Pocket’s Pokémon do smaller chunks of damage, so there was a lot of back-and-forth between my opponent and I as we tried to whittle down each other’s team. It was a nice change of pace. In the end, my opponent’s many Trainer cards made all the difference and he took the dub. 

Even though I didn’t have time to explore the battling system more in-depth, I was satisfied knowing that Pocket’s less complex spin on the game would still challenge players. It felt like the designers put a lot of thought into how to keep the game both fun and balanced in this new form. A big change is how Pocket introduces a new rule that says the player who goes first cannot attach an energy. It also reduces the impact of Pokémon weakness. I thought these were smart changes that made the game feel more fair. When we asked if Pokémon TCG Pocket will have a competitive circuit and be part of the annual Pokémon World Championships, a Pokémon rep told us to stay tuned for more info.

Why Did Pokémon Make a Second TCG Video Game?

As it turns out, there’s already a digital Pokémon card game called Pokémon TCG Live. It has similar features to Pocket, allowing you to collect digital cards and use them to battle (with the full rules). It begs the question why the Pokémon Company decided to make a second digital card game when they already have one. Keita Hirobe, Executive Corporate Officer at The Pokémon Company, explained that while Pocket and Live are similar, they serve different purposes.

“We view [Pokémon TCG Live] as more of an extension of the physical trading card game. It’s something for players who want to learn the rules of the physical trading card game. They are able to have this easy-to-use tool to test decks and learn the rules of the game and ultimately have that inform their physical trading card game knowledge,” Hanawa said.

“Pocket is our idea to make [the Pokémon TCG] more approachable and accessible to a wider range of players. I think it’s also different than a lot of digital trading card games. In other trading card games and digital trading card games, the focus is primarily on battle. And while we do have a really rich battle system that’s going to be very fun to play, we equally focus on the card collecting experience. So we wanted to kind of have both of those elements in a digital game application.”

Pokémon TCG Pocket Is ‘Free to Start’

Pokémon TCG Pocket is “free to start,” and we all know what that means: numerous digital currencies, time-gated activities, battle passes, and real-money microtransactions. Pocket gives players two free packs every day. For those who want to fill out their collection faster, you can either fork over real cash or complete missions to earn a currency to exchange for more packs. A mission can be anything from obtaining a certain set of Pokémon cards to completing certain in-game tasks. (While we’re talking about getting more booster packs, I should note that the code cards for a free digital booster pack found in physical Pokémon TCG packs can only work in Live and don’t work in Pocket.)

A single booster pack in Pocket has five cards, and from what we could tell there is no guaranteed rare or holo in each pack like there is with physical packs. There’s also a “Wonder Pick” mode that lets you copy the contents of a friend’s booster pack and pick one card at random to add to your collection. 

The developers said they spent a lot of time making the pack-opening experience enjoyable. They did this by creating a pleasing tearing sound when you open a pack, allowing you to pick from a selection of 12 unique packs, and giving you the choice to open the pack from the front or the back. It’s not uncommon for collectors to have their own personal pack opening rituals for good luck, so it seems intentional that the designers offer so many ways you can customize how you open boosters. 

Pokémon TCG Pocket launches globally on October 30, 2024.

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At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel fans were left reeling after Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers revealed that Robert Downey, Jr. will be returning to the MCU to play the villainous Victor von Doom, a.k.a. Doctor Doom. Questions were immediately raised about how Downey could possibly play Marvel’s next big baddie when he already played its top hero, the dearly departed Tony Stark/Iron Man. This chatter led to theories about multiverse variants.

Not long after, Marvel Comics writer Deniz Camp posted a cryptic tease about his upcoming comic series on X/Twitter, writing, “If you want to understand Robert Downey Jr. as Doom, you MUST read Ultimates 4 on sept 4th.” Now that Ultimates #4 is out in the wild, let’s dig into the issue and see what it reveals about the man in the iron mask who will terrorize Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the upcoming films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Ultimates Is About a Twisted Version of the Marvel Universe

Ultimates is a new comic book series about Marvel’s rebooted Ultimate Universe. The Ultimate Universe was restored by a villain known as the Maker. This character is an evil version of Reed Richards from the original Ultimate Universe. In order to ensure his rule of this new world, the Maker used time travel to make it so Marvel’s greatest saviors never became superheroes.

Despite the Maker’s best efforts, some heroes slipped through the cracks. Howard Stark became Iron Man and passed on the mantle to his son, Tony Stark. Tony took on the name Iron Lad and scraped together a team of Avengers to oppose the Maker. One of Tony’s allies is Reed Richards, who in this twisted world became Doom instead of Mister Fantastic. Ultimates #4 pulls back the curtain to reveal how a hero like Reed Richards could wind up like his classic nemesis, Doctor Doom.

The Maker Corrupted the Ultimate Doom

Ultimates #4 unveils Ultimate Doom’s backstory and shows how one small change completely altered the fate of the Fantastic Four. As we watch Reed Richards preparing for the team’s first mission to space, the Maker uses time travel to pop into Reed’s lab and sneakily ruin one of his calculations on a whiteboard. The small sabotage has big consequences as it causes the space mission to end in tragedy. Instead of the group gaining wondrous super powers, they each meet a horrific end that aligns with their would-be powers.

The cosmic rays bombarding the space shuttle set Johnny Storm on fire, which kills him. Ben is later found at the bottom of a rock quarry, seemingly dying by suicide. Sue’s health slowly “fades away” in the hospital as she succumbs to radiation poisoning. Reed is the lone survivor but the Maker kidnaps him. The Maker brings Reed to the Dome, his technologically advanced base of operations where he can manipulate the flow of time.

“I can squeeze centuries of pain into just a few thin moments,” he says. The Maker physically tortures Reed with electrocution, melting his face Palpatine-style. He then covers Reed’s face with a burning-hot metal mask. He also psychologically tortures Reed with his perceived failure that brought about the “doom” of his loved ones. Reed eventually snaps mentally and accepts the name Doom to complete the transformation.

How Ultimate Doom Could Explain RDJ Becoming Doctor Doom

The story of Ultimates #4 does indeed appear to offer valuable insight on Downey’s Doom. Even though the comic shows how Reed, not Tony, became Doom, it still demonstrates how a key change in a character’s origin story can drastically alter their life and send them down the path of doom. Perhaps the new character Downey is playing is from a different universe where Tony Stark’s origin story played out differently and he emerged from the cave as an armor-clad villain instead of a hero. Who’s to say he couldn’t reinvent himself by buying a castle in Eastern Europe and taking on the name Victor von Doom? 

Most interestingly, the story of Ultimates #4 asks us to consider the idea that Downey’s character wasn’t supposed to become Doom. Instead, a nefarious force made him Doom. We could see the same thing happen in the MCU. It could be that an evil mastermind saw how Tony Stark became Marvel’s greatest hero in one universe, so they set out to make him its greatest villain in another. If Marvel does go this route for the story, it would mean there’s a secret villain above Doom who orchestrated his creation.

If Marvel wants to wrap up the unresolved Kang the Conqueror storyline, then Kang could take the role of the Maker in this story. He is known for time travel, after all. If Kang does create MCU Doom, then it wouldn’t surprise anybody for Doom to betray Kang and replace him as the next big threat the Avengers must face. Then again, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Marvel introduces the Maker himself who is an evil version of Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic. This could make sense, considering we will meet Mister Fantastic in next year’s Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Will the MCU Really Get Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom Origin Story From the Ultimates Comic?

It is tantalizing to think that the secrets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next big bad Doctor Doom are within the comics pages of Ultimates #4. However, it’s hard to believe that Feige would allow his master plan for Downey’s Doom to be in a comic book before the next Avengers movies have even started production. With that in mind, Deniz Camp may have been implying that his story in Ultimates #4 is more of a thematic preview of Downey’s Doom rather than a literal one. The issue speaks to how the theme of loss is core to Doom’s character.

Ultimate Reed became Doom after losing his friends and family. The classic version of Victor von Doom became Doctor Doom after losing his parents. If there’s one thing Camp wants us to understand about Downey’s Doom, it appears to be that loss will be a key element of his character. One can imagine how Tony Stark would have been a very different person if the likes of Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan met a tragic demise. If they weren’t around to help him become the hero who would go on to form the Avengers and ultimately sacrifice himself to save the Marvel Universe from certain doom, then he could have certainly become Doctor Doom. We will see what actually happens in the future.

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When Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige first announced the new Ironheart Disney+ series, he said it would feature genius inventor Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, taking on a mystical villain known as the Hood. It will be a full-on battle of science versus magic for the first time in the MCU. The Hood will be played by actor Anthony Ramos in the show. Riri Williams actor Dominique Thorne confirmed that Ironheart won’t debut until 2025 but, in the meantime, we can get to know her upcoming adversary. Here’s a complete rundown of the origin story, powers, and overall Marvel Comics history of the Hood.

A Brief Explanation of Parker Robbins a.k.a. The Hood

When small-time crook Parker Robbins came upon a cloak of dark magic, he was granted incredible powers and became a supervillain known as the Hood. He used his street smarts and new supernatural abilities to become one of Marvel’s premiere supervillain crime bosses. Despite his small beginnings, he’s risen to become a threat to the Avengers and the entire Marvel Universe. He has been called the “Godfather of all supervillains.” 

The Hood’s Comics Origin Is a Story of Rags to Riches

The Hood first made his comic book debut in a self-titled mini-series in 2002 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell. Growing up in New York City, a teenage Parker Robbins witnessed a battle between Daredevil and Electro, but he found himself inspired by the villain rather than the hero. As an adult, Robbins lived a shady life where he lied and stole to get by.

When he needed money to provide for his sick mother and pregnant girlfriend Sara—not to mention his secret mistress—he took a job from his crooked cousin John King to help rob a warehouse. Rather than finding valuable goods inside, they stumbled across the remains of a demonic ritual and came face-to-face with an actual demon. Robbins killed the demon with a gunshot to the head and, not wanting to leave empty-handed, took its cloak and boots.

Soon after, he discovered the boots gave him the power of levitation and the cloak turned him invisible while he held his breath. Robbins used these new tricks to help pull off daring robberies, and the police gave him the nickname “the Hood.” Emboldened by his newfound power, Robbins went on to become a notorious supervillain and the head of a criminal syndicate.

The Hood’s Demonic Powers in the Marvel Comics, Explained

The Hood’s powers and abilities originally come from his magical cloak and boots. The cloak turns the Hood invisible while he’s holding his breath. The boots give him the ability to levitate. After his origin story, the boots were never mentioned again and the Hood’s powers were attributed solely to his cloak.

However, Parker Robbins without the cloak is no slouch in a fight. He’s a great shot with his signature twin pistols. Outside of combat, Robbins is a powerful leader and strategist. He uses his persuasive skills to recruit supervillains to his criminal syndicate and outmaneuver other crime lords to rise to the top as the Kingpin of crime. 

Over the years, Robbins discovered his cloak had additional powers, such as teleportation and resurrection. The cloak also gives him the ability to see through all manner of illusion. During Secret Invasion, he was able to identify who was a shapeshifted Skrull. When battling Doctor Doom and a fleet of Doombots, he could tell which one was the real Doom.

In times of desperation, the Hood transforms his body to become more demonic. His face dons a monstrous guise, his fingers turn to claws, and he gains incredible strength, speed, and magical ability. In his demon form, the Hood can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Wolverine and Doctor Doom. (Speaking of Wolverine, one of the Hood’s most infamous acts is shooting Logan in the crotch during a fight. It didn’t end well for him.)

After some time with the cloak, Robbins began to commune with the source of its demonic power and learned it was none other than Doctor Strange baddie Dormammu. The ruler of the Dark Dimension helped Robbins access more of the cloak’s power. But the longer Robbins wore the cloak, the more he was corrupted by Dormmamu’s evil.

When an exorcism broke the link to Dormammu, Loki made a deal with Robbins to restore his powers with the Norn Stones of Asgardian legend. Loki eventually took back the power of the Norn Stones and left Robbins powerless once more. Robbins wound up in jail until a fellow prisoner told Robbins about the location of an Infinity Gem. So Robbins escaped and almost succeeded in gathering all of the gems before he was stopped by the Avengers. No matter how many times Robbins gets knocked down, he always finds a way to reclaim his power and continue his quest to become the Kingpin of crime. 

The Hood Is a Criminal Mastermind

Since becoming a crime lord in New York City, the Hood has started several criminal organizations and joined the ranks of a few supervillain groups. His first big push to become the Kingpin of crime came in the fallout of Civil War when the superhero community was in shambles. This made it easy for the Hood to amass power and organize a large group of villains to take advantage of the situation.

As the Hood’s criminal empire expanded and he learned more about the dark power of his cloak, he became a major ongoing threat to the Avengers. When Norman Osborn took over the world during the Dark Reign era, the Hood joined Osborn’s ruling council of villains called the Cabal. The Hood started his own evil version of the Illuminati with fellow baddies Black Ant, Enchantress, Mad Thinker, Thunderball, and Titania.

Anthony Ramos Will Deliver a New Twist on the Hood in Marvel’s Ironheart Series

The story of Ironheart sees gifted MIT student Riri Williams return to her home city of Chicago where she reconnects with her roots and tries to rebuild her suit of armor, only to be pulled into a world of danger when she meets Parker Robins, aka the Hood. When the Hood makes his live-action debut in Ironheart, he will be a bit different than in the comics.

Hood actor Anthony Ramos told Entertainment Weekly that his Marvel Cinematic Universe Parker Robbins will be from Chicago instead of New York—specifically the Humboldt Park area of Chicago, which has a large Puerto Rican community. The change makes sense not only because it brings the hero and villain together but creates a personal link between them. “We created this whole backstory with [Parker Robbins’] mom being from the Young Lords and raising him that way [as a gang member-turned-activist].,” said Ramos. “Chicago plays a huge part in the identity of all of our characters and the identity of this show, so I’m really excited for people to experience that.”

Another big change will see the typically heroic Riri Williams joining the Hood’s criminal organization. In the comics, the two characters don’t have any sort of connection, so their relationship will be a brand new element unique to the MCU. As we saw at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri had to leave her shiny new suit of armor behind in Wakanda, which is why Ironheart finds her joining the Hood’s gang to fund the creation of a new one.

“We see this common thread between [Riri Williams and Parker Robbins] where it’s like, ‘How much can I get? I get a little bit and I see how much I can do with this little bit, maybe if I get a little more I might be able to do a little more with that.’ And we see how that affects the characters positively and negatively,” Ramos explained. “And then we start to see how the characters start to use each other to get ahead and to get more, whether that’s more power, more something, more money. It’s really cool to see that journey in how the characters start to interweave between one another’s stories.”

We cannot wait to see what the MCU does with the Hood next year when Ironheart hits Disney+.

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Fans who watched the new trailer for Daredevil: Born Again at Marvel Studios’ D23 presentation caught a glimpse of a fearsome-looking character in a white costume with black stripes. The new superhero is none other than the White Tiger. But who is this white-clad warrior and what can we expect when he crosses paths with Daredevil? We’re going to break it all down for you with his comic origin, powers, and more.

Hector Ayala Is the Original White Tiger, Marvel Comics’ First Hispanic Superhero

The White Tiger is a superhero martial artist with powers that come from a set of mystical Jade Tiger amulets. Numerous heroes have held the mantle over the years as the amulets found new owners. The original White Tiger, Hector Ayala, is not only Marvel’s first-ever Hispanic superhero but also the first Latin-American main character in all of American comics. As one of Marvel’s premiere hand-to-hand combatants, White Tiger fights alongside the likes of Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Daredevil. 

The First Marvel Comics Appearance and Origin Story of White Tiger

Hector Ayala made his comic book debut in 1975’s Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19, a series created during the martial arts movie craze of the ‘70s. The series first starred a trio of martial artists known as the Sons of the Tiger. Each of them drew power from one of three magical Jade Tiger pendants. After the Sons of the Tiger disbanded and threw their pendants away, it was Ayala who found them and harnessed their power to become the White Tiger.

Ayala was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico before his family moved to the South Bronx in New York City. This discovery in his new country changed the course of his life and turned him into a costumed crime fighter. As the White Tiger, he used his new powers to take on street gangs and supervillains such as Fu Manchu, Gideon Mace, Lightmaster, Copperhead, and Spider-Man baddie Doctor Octopus.

White Tiger’s Incredible Martial Arts Powers Come at a Price

When all three Jade Tiger amulets are worn by the White Tiger, the magic power of the Tiger God is channeled into the wearer. They are granted the skills of a martial arts master, cat-like speed/reflexes, and superhuman strength and endurance. Though less commonly seen, other powers of the amulets include healing and camouflage. The amulets come from the mystical city of K’un L’un. It is where a magical Jade Tiger statue was stolen by thieves and broken into pieces: a head and two paws. (K’un L’un may sound familiar because it’s where Iron Fist got his powers, but that’s a whole other story.) The great power of the Jade Tiger began to negatively affect Ayala when he developed a severe addiction to it. Eventually he was forced to give up being White Tiger, for a time, and he suffered similar symptoms to drug withdrawal.

The Original White Tiger’s Tragic Death in the Marvel Comics

Despite his heroism, Hector Ayala suffered during his time as White Tiger. He had to live a stressful dual-life, battle addiction, and lose friends and family to violence. He deserved recognition for his good deeds, but he met a tragic end. After a long hiatus, Hector took up the mantle of the White Tiger once more. One fateful day, the White Tiger responded to a routine pawn shop robbery. It soon became a bloody scene where he was wrongfully accused and arrested for the murder of a cop. Despite the best efforts of his lawyer, Matt Murdock, the jury found Hector guilty. Rather than spend the rest of his life in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, Hector tried to escape. He was shot dead outside the courthouse—only for undeniable evidence of his innocence to be brought to light by Daredevil soon after. 

Other Heroes Who Have Taken Up the Mantle of the White Tiger

In addition to Hector Ayala, four other characters have held the White Tiger mantle in Marvel Comics history. The next two characters to call themselves White Tiger have no connection to Ayala or the Jade Tiger amulets, but we’ll still cover them for completion’s sake. The second White Tiger first appeared in 1997’s Heroes for Hire #1. She is an actual white tiger that was given the power to transform into a human woman by the evil High Evolutionary. The third is Kasper Cole, who made his debut in 2002’s Black Panther #50. At first, he started out trying to impersonate the Black Panther. Kasper later became the White Tiger with superpowers derived from a synthetic version of the heart-shaped herb.

The fourth incarnation of White Tiger brought the mantle back to where it started when Hector Ayala’s niece, Angela del Toro, took up the mantle. First appearing in 2005 within the pages of Daredevil #58, Angela inherited the Jade Tiger amulets from her uncle after he passed away. Working as an FBI agent, she had to investigate Daredevil. However, she quit her job to learn more about the magical amulets and her uncle’s superhero legacy. After receiving combat training from Daredevil, who knew her uncle Hector, she suited up as the new White Tiger.

The fifth White Tiger is Ava Ayala, who made her comic book debut in 2011’s Avengers Academy #20. Ava is Hector’s youngest sister. After Angela ended her time as White Tiger, the Jade Tiger amulets were passed on to Ava. When she was young, Ava witnessed the murder of her father, mother, and older sister and was gravely injured herself. They were targeted by the villain Gideon Mace in order to draw out her older brother Hector, the White Tiger. She decided to become the new White Tiger to honor her brother’s legacy as a Latinx superhero.

White Tiger Comes to the MCU in Daredevil: Born Again

Hector Ayala aka, the White Tiger, will make his MCU debut in Daredevil: Born Again. Puerto Rican actor Kamar de los Reyes portrays the live-action version of this character. Sadly, after filming wrapped Reyes passed away in 2023 due to cancer. Marvel has kept a tight lid on the plot details for this series. But it is possible that the show’s first story arc will introduce the White Tiger and feature the trial of Hector Ayala. There have also been whispers that multiple White Tigers will appear in the show. So, we could see the mantle pass down to Hector’s family members just like in the comics. Whatever White Tiger’s role is in the show, Marvel fans can expect him to be a martial arts powerhouse with a sharp sense of justice. 

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A new villainous organization called the Serpent Society is making its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Brave New World. They’re a group of snake-themed bad guys led by Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder who have a long and colorful history in Marvel Comics. In 2015, MCU boss Kevin Feige jokingly revealed the title of Captain America 3 to be Captain America: Serpent Society before showing it was actually going to be Captain America: Civil War. But now it’s no laughing matter. The Serpent Society are making their MCU debut for real. Here’s everything you need to know about Sidewinder and the Serpent Society before Captain America 4 slithers into theaters on February 14, 2025.

What Is the Serpent Society? 

Since their comic book debut, the Serpent Society’s group of snake-themed bad guys have made a striking impression on the Marvel Universe. They possess monstrous appearances and a variety of squeezing, paralyzing, and poisoning superpowers. The villainous Seth Voelker, aka Sidewinder, created the Serpent Society to be more than just a group of snake-themed evil-doers. He structured the group like a trade union and made it far more organized than your standard gang of goons. The society offered profit sharing, health insurance, and kept its members out of prison thanks to Sidewinder’s teleportation ability. That’s what has made them such an enduring menace to Captain America and Marvel’s other heroes over the years. They’ve been referred to as the “Avengers of the Underworld” and have been hired as muscle by the Kingpin, the mafia, and HYDRA.

The Serpent Society’s Comic Origins and Evolution

Before we get to the origins of the Serpent Society, we have to talk about its predecessor, the Serpent Squad. In 1972’s Captain America #163, the villain Viper created the Serpent Squad to take revenge on Captain America and the Falcon for imprisoning his criminal brother, the Eel. (Yes, eels aren’t snakes, but they’re close enough to fit the theme so we give this a pass.) They were aided by the Cobra who was previously a villain to Thor. 

After their initial defeat, the team would reform with new snake-themed members joining over the years. They were little more than a group of disgruntled criminals in snake costumes. The team became much more than that when their number later merged into the Serpent Society. They made their big debut in 1985’s Captain America #310. Under the leadership of Sidewinder they became a formidable evil organization resembling a labor union. In the 2014 relaunch of Captain America in which former Falcon Sam Wilson takes up Steve Rogers’ shield, rebranded the Serpent Society. A new Viper (previously Madame Hydra) dubbed the team Serpent Solutions. This iteration offered their services to big corporations to do their dirty work and used legal loopholes to absolve them of any wrongdoing. 

Sidewinder’s Origins

At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, actor Giancarlo Esposito revealed that his Captain America: Brave New World character is Seth Voelker, better known as Sidewinder. In the comics, Seth Voelker started off as an unassuming economics professor from Kenosha, Wisconsin. His life took an unexpected turn when he failed to make tenure, taking a job at the shady Roxxon Oil Company. He discovered the corporation’s illegal activities and volunteered to undergo a mutagenic experiment that changed his physiology into that of a snake.

Sidewinder’s first comic book appearance came in 1980’s Marvel Two-in-One #64. Roxxon hired him to launch a surprise attack on the Fantastic Four’s Thing and his undersea ally Triton in order to steal a mystic artifact called the Serpent Crown. After a stint working for Roxxon, Sidewinder used his business savvy and strategic skills to start and lead his own criminal organization full of fellow snake-like baddies, the Serpent Society. 

Sidewinder’s Powers and Abilities

Even though Voelkner transformed into a snake-man, the extreme change to his body didn’t grant him any super powers. Sidewinder’s powers come from the equipment given to him by Roxxon. A technologically-advanced cape grants Sidewinder the ability to teleport. His bullet-proof armor gives him durability during combat. Sidewinder made great use of his teleportation ability by continually rescuing his teammates from incarceration. Voelkner’s key traits are his shrewd intelligence and his ability as a tactician, which he used to elevate the Serpent Society from a rag-tag group of criminals to an enduring trade union of supervillains.

Other Sidewinders

Seth Voelker is the original Sidewinder, but as is tradition in Marvel comics, other characters have picked up the mantle over the years. One successor was a flash-in-the-pan who made his debut and died in the same issue while trying to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. We never even learned his real name. The other Sidewinder is Gregory Bryan, who filled the teleporter role in the Serpent Society’s ranks after the original Sidewinder retired. He never took to the position of leader like Voelker. Instead he worked for Viper when she rebranded the business as Serpent Solutions.

Members of the Serpent Society

As one would expect, the Serpent Society’s roster includes many snake-themed villains. Each member’s powers came from their snake of choice. The original team featured the teleporting Sidewinder, superstrong Anaconda, venom-blasting Asp, telepathic Black Mamba, cybernetic Bushmaster, speedy King Cobra, bionic-jawed Cottonmouth, poisonous Death Adder, acrobatic Diamondback, shock-wave emitting Rattler, and electrifying Princess Python. It’s worth noting that Sidewinder’s love interest was fellow member Tanya Sealy, aka Black Mamba. Viper later joined the society with her crew including Black Racer, Boomslang, Coachwhip, Copperhead, Fer-de-Lance, Puff Adder, Rock Python, and Slither. 

The Serpent Society’s Beef with Captain America

The Serpent Squad started out as Captain America villains with a grudge against the Sentinel of Liberty. Though the organization had gone on to become a threat to the greater Marvel Universe, things were always personal when it came to Cap. Sidewinder often found his group in conflict with Captain America, but when the ever-ambitious Viper staged a coup and overthrew Sidewinder, he found himself with nowhere else to turn. Sidewinder decided to team up with Steve Rogers (then known as the Captain) to strike back at Viper. After the whole Viper debacle resolved, Sidewinder retired from the Serpent Society and accepted Cap’s help to raise money to treat his cancer-stricken daughter. 

Serpent Solutions was the first big threat that Sam Wilson faced when he became Captain America. Later in the controversial 2016 Captain America storyline where Steve Rogers declared his allegiance to HYDRA, Serpent Solutions played a part in HYDRA’s rise to power and takeover of the planet. This all happens in the comic event series Secret Empire.

Giancarlo Esposito’s New Take on Sidewinder

“I can finally unleash it. I am the King of the Serpent Society; I am Sidewinder!” Giancarlo Esposito revealed to a crowd of Marvel fans at San Diego-Comic Con 2024. He appears to be playing a new version of Sidewinder that’s quite different from how he’s depicted in the comics. Comic book fans have pointed out that Esposito’s orange jacket collar evokes his snakey comic book costume. But that’s as snake-like as Esposito gets, at least from what we’ve seen so far from the trailers for Captain America: Brave New World.

Esposito isn’t wearing any prosthetics, so he appears as a normal man rather than an anthropomorphic snake. That’s not to say Esposito won’t eventually transform to something a bit more scaly later in the movie. The mad scientist the Leader, played by the returning Tim Blake Nelson from The Incredible Hulk, certainly has the skills to make that happen. We already know Captain America: Brave New World will see Harrison Ford’s President Ross transform into the Red Hulk. So who’s to say Sidewinder won’t turn into a snake-man? 

Sidewinder appears to be more hands-on in the MCU than his comic book counterpart. “I have the ability in this to show not only my brain but to show my physicality. I have the tools; I know how to use them. You’ve never seen me this way,” Esposito told Total Film. Esposito’s character uses guns and knives out in the field, whereas the comics version of Sidewinder tended to stay behind plotting from Serpent Society headquarters and only pop in and out of danger with his teleportation cloak. Curiously, Esposito referred to his character as the “King” of the Serpent Society, which isn’t a title the character ever adopted in the comics. Perhaps it’s an apt moniker for a snake villain because it evokes the deadly king cobra.

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The fictional metal known as Adamantium has played a key role in Marvel storytelling for decades. Of course, much of its history centers around the iconic X-Men member Wolverine. The indestructible metal was first introduced in the comics, then it showed up in Fox’s X-Men films. Now Adamantium will become a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters next year. Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about Adamantium’s history and how it will show up in the MCU.

Adamantium in the Marvel Comics

In the Marvel Universe, Adamantium is effectively the strongest metal on Earth, which allows Wolverine’s Adamantium-coated claws to slice through virtually anything. The metal is especially rare, expensive, and difficult to manipulate because it requires intense heat to liquify it for molding and then can’t become liquid again once it hardens. It’s on par with Wakanda’s Vibranium as one of the most powerful and sought-after substances in the Marvel Universe. 

Adamantium was first introduced in the comics in 1963’s Avengers #66. The issue reveals how the metal is a man-made substance created by metallurgist Dr. Myron MacLain. He accidentally discovered it while conducting an experiment with Vibranium during World War II. (Dr. MacLain is the scientist who created Captain America’s shield.) The Avengers themselves tested the metal’s durability and it withstood attacks from Iron Man, Goliath, and even Thor the God of Thunder. Dr. MacLain thought the indestructible metal could be dangerous if it were used for evil. Sure enough, Ultron commanded Vision to steal the Adamantium and used it to create the armor for his new robot body.

When Wolverine first made his comic book debut in 1974’s The Incredible Hulk #180, fans figured that his metal claws were part of his gloves. It wasn’t until 1991’s “Weapon X” storyline that took place in Marvel Comics Presents #72–84 that we learned Logan’s claws were a part of his skeleton. His bones were bonded with Adamantium in a horrifying experiment. A nefarious secret government organization known as the Weapon X Program did it with the goal of making him an indestructible killing machine. Suffice to say, it was a success.

While Wolverine is the most popular character with Adamantium, other Marvel characters over the years use it. Many characters with connections to Wolverine also have Adamantium skeletons and/or claws. This list includes villains Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth and both of Wolverine’s children, Daken and X-23/Laura Kinney. During World War II, Adamantium and Vibranium came together to make Captain America’s indestructible shield. After Daredevil paralyzed his nemesis Bullseye in a fight, the sharpshooter had Adamantium plates surgically grafted to his skeleton. Spider-Man villain Hammerhead’s skull had Adamantium, which let him charge into foes like a deadly weapon.

One of the most iconic comic book storylines involving Adamantium is the 1991 X-Men story “Fatal Attractions.” In it, an enraged Magneto ripped the Adamantium out of Wolverine’s body. The moment even made its way into 2024’s X-Men ‘97 animated series’ ninth episode. It is a direct homage to the comics.

Adamantium in Fox’s X-Men Films

Wolverine’s Adamantium skeleton and the Weapon X program are a recurring major plot point in Fox’s series of X-Men films. 

When we meet Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the first live-action X-Men movie, he’s fighting in cage matches for money. His punches and headbutt against his opponent produced a metal clang sound. Over the course of the movie, the combination of his mutant healing factor and his Adamantium skeleton showcase how he’s virtually immortal. When the X-Men x-ray his body at Xavier’s school they’re fascinated and horrified to discover Adamantium surgically grafted to his entire skeleton. 

The mystery of Logan’s metal skeleton becomes a focal point of the sequel, X2: X-Men United. Logan meets the man responsible for bonding the metal to his bones, Colonel William Stryker, head of the Weapon-X Program. The third act of the film sends the X-Men to the abandoned lab where Logan’s Adamantium-bonding procedure took place many years before. Logan faces off with a deadly woman named Yuriko (Lady Deathstrike in the comics). She underwent the same Weapon X procedure and had Adamantium claws sprouting from her fingertips. In their battle of two indestructible warriors, Logan is only able to end it by injecting Yuriko with liquid Adamantium that instantly hardened and ended her life.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine reveals that Adamantium comes from a meteor that fell to Earth, as opposed to being created by a scientist like in the comics. The film also shows how Logan was tricked into agreeing to the Weapon X Program’s Adamantium-bonding experiment and how he lost his memory from being shot in the head with multiple Adamantium bullets. The film’s final battle sees Wolverine come up with a way to slice through Adamantium by superheating his claws. This allowed him to defeat the Adamantium-laced Deadpool by cutting his head off with red-hot claws. We see this tactic again in the sequel, The Wolverine. The Silver Samurai chopped off Logan’s claws with a blazing robotic samurai blade.

The 2017 movie Logan showed how after many long years Logan’s healing factor weakened. He began to suffer from lethal Adamantium poisoning. It’s the greatest of ironies that the substance that made Logan indestructible for so long is what’s slowly killing him. 

Adamantium in the MCU

Adamantium currently doesn’t have a proper introduction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Technically Deadpool & Wolverine is an MCU movie. In the film, Deadpool receives a pair of Adamantium katanas from the TVA. But the precious alloy still hasn’t shown up on Earth-616. That’s about to change.
During Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, fans saw a preview of the upcoming movie Captain America: Brave New World.

The footage included a moment where President “Thunderbolt” Ross reveals that Adamantium was inside the Celestial Tiamut sticking out of the Earth after the events of Eternals. It looks like the discovery of Adamantium will kick off a resource war in the MCU similar to what we’ve seen with Vibranium in the Black Panther movies.

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“I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?” That was Gwyneth Paltrow’s reaction to the shocking news that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the MCU not to play Iron Man but as the ultimate Marvel villain, Doctor Doom. And honestly? Same, Gwyneth Paltrow. Same.

The big reveal via the Russo Brothers at the end of Marvel Studios’ Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. The directing duo responsible for four of Marvel’s biggest hits (including the last two Avengers movies, Infinity War and Endgame) are also coming back to Marvel to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The fan reaction to Downey playing Doom continues to be loud and divisive. Here’s why some fans are hype, others are disappointed, and what Kevin Feige and company could be up to with this unexpected casting.

Robert Downey, Jr.’s Return Could Smooth a Rough Patch in the MCU

It’s easy to get excited about RDJ making his grand return to the MCU after a five-year absence. His fast-talking turn as Tony Stark/Iron Man revolutionized the modern superhero genre. He’s a fan-favorite, from his early days as a solo hero to his sacrifice to save the universe from Thanos. RDJ delivering an incredible performance as Victor von Doom is something pretty much everyone agrees on. What’s rubbing some folks the wrong way is why he was brought back in the first place. 

It’s no secret that the MCU has been going through a rough patch since the Multiverse Saga got underway. The huge influx of new characters, several underwhelming projects, and a lack of an overarching MCU narrative has left some fans feeling disappointed. Even Deadpool didn’t pull any punches when he joked about the Marvel slump in Deadpool & Wolverine. It’s no wonder that Marvel decided to bring back RDJ and the Russos. They are fan-favorites who know how to make a darn good superhero movie. 

Does Marvel Studios’ Decision to Replace Kang With Downey’s Doctor Doom Suggest a Lack of Creativity?

The original plan for the fifth Avengers movie was for Earth’s mightiest heroes battle it out against Kang the Conqueror in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Kang actor Jonathan Majors was fired from the role and left Marvel in a bad spot. Upset fans think it makes Marvel look desperate and creatively bankrupt to simply bring back Downey (and the Russos) in an effort to recapture their pre-Endgame glory. We all figured that RDJ would return to the MCU one day. Downey himself said he would be happy to return; however, this feels far too soon for some fans.

Wait, How Can Robert Downey, Jr. Play Doctor Doom After Portraying Iron Man?

Beyond the casting choice itself, fans are confused as to how Downey can play Doctor Doom in the first place. The same actor has played multiple roles in the MCU before. Gemma Chan played Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel and Sersi in Eternals. Michelle Yeoh also cameoed as Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 before playing supporting character Ying Nan in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Most movie-goers probably didn’t notice the repeat use of actors but everyone will recognize Downey.

It feels inappropriate to repurpose the most iconic face in the MCU without a good reason. Some fans are having a hard time accepting the fact that Downey is Doom. In fact, they’re theorizing Downey is just playing Doom for the next two Avengers films. They believe the “real” Doctor Doom will appear with a new actor who depicts the character in a more comics-accurate fashion. The way Marvel explains how Doom could have Tony Stark’s face may be what makes or breaks this decision.

How the MCU Can Use Comics and Heart to Make This Doctor Doom Venture Satisfying for Fans

There’s a lot of dramatic juice to be squeezed from Marvel’s greatest hero dying and having the same man play Marvel’s greatest villain. One can imagine the emotional turmoil the Avengers would go through—especially Peter Parker—if Doom reveals his face and it’s their dearly departed loved one under the mask. Interestingly, the logo for Avengers: Doomsday is green and silver to evoke Doom and the logo for Avengers: Secret Wars is red and gold. We all know those are Iron Man’s signature colors. Optimistically, this implies that Marvel made this choice with a purposeful Doctor Doom/Iron Man theme in mind. Perhaps the story across the next two Avengers films will justify the unexpected casting choice.

There’s plenty of precedent in the comics for a juicy Doom/Stark story. There are numerous instances where Iron Man and Doctor Doom have crossed paths and several specifically feature one becoming the other. After Stark seemingly died in 2016, Doom took up his mantle and headlined a series called Infamous Iron Man. A What If? story from 2010 called Iron Man: Demon in an Armor saw Doom pull a Freaky Friday and swap bodies with Stark. And, in a 2004 issue of Marvel Team-Up, the Tony Stark of Earth-5012 became a version of Doom called the Iron Maniac. He was banished to another universe that just happened to be Earth-616. Perhaps those comics inspired what Marvel has in mind for the upcoming Avengers sequels. 

Is Downey’s Doctor Doom a Tony Stark Variant in the MCU?

The Russos didn’t explicitly say if Downey’s Doom will be a Stark variant or not, which only adds to the confusion around this casting choice. They did say he’s playing Victor von Doom. But they also said it was the “unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multiverse” that allowed them to make this casting decision. This suggests that he’s a variant. If he’s not a variant and Marvel is expecting everyone to pretend a Doom with Stark’s face is completely normal, then that pill may be too hard to swallow. It would only reinforce the idea that this was all stunt casting rather than an inspired creative choice. 

While some fans need a satisfactory explanation before they get on board with Downey as Doom, others could care less because they just want to see a fun superhero flick. Hugh Jackman proved that even if an actor delivers a seemingly final performance for a beloved Marvel character, then fans will still excitedly show up to watch him return in a new movie as a variant. Deadpool & Wolverine broke numerous box office records and has no doubt reassured Marvel that they made the right choice with Downey’s comeback, at least as a business decision.

Will Marvel Address Doctor Doom’s Romani Heritage in the MCU?

While RDJ’s acting chops are unimpeachable, some fans have shared their reservations about whether he’s a good fit for the character of Doctor Doom. For one, Doom is Romani in the comics and his culture and the prejudice he faces in his youth plays a vital role in his origin. Therefore, casting Downey white-washes the character. Iron Man’s charming snark is worlds away from Doom’s icy and intense demeanor, which is similar to Darth Vader.

Traditionally, Doom’s face is horribly scarred and his vanity is so extreme that he never takes off his mask except on rare occasions. This could work in Downey’s favor because always being masked would help people forget he used to play Tony Stark. That would allow him to and deliver a wholly new kind of performance a la Hugo Weaving’s V from V for Vendetta. However it’s hard to believe Marvel would spend all that moolah on Downey just to cover him up 99% of the time. 

Will Robert Downey, Jr. Play Doom for the Long Run? Probably Not.

Doctor Doom is a rich and complex character with a long history in Marvel’s comics. He is not only a genius-level scientist but a gifted sorcerer. There’s a fascinating story to how he became both. Despite being known as a villain, he’s not pure evil and lives by a code of honor. His ethos sometimes sees him team up with the good guys rather than fight them. He’s a character that comic fans want to see the MCU build up with a nuanced story over a long period of time like Loki. Fans want this Doctor Doom to be done better than the two previous attempts. That means they want to see him rule his home country of Latveria, wield techno-sorcery, and form tenuous alliances with heroes. Fans also want him to develop a passionate rivalry with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. 

Doing Doctor Doom’s arc justice in the MCU would take a long time. However, it seems unlikely that Marvel will keep Downey as Doom for years considering he’s one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. For the fans who have waited years for MCU Doctor Doom, there’s a feeling of being short-changed. It feels like a beleaguered Marvel made an overly cautious bet to protect box office earnings and reinvigorate the brand. At the end of the day, Downey and the Russos may indeed deliver a pair of excellent Avengers movies, but fans will be the ones to determine whether they are worthy of Doom.

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The Russo Brothers are in talks to return to Marvel to direct the next two Avengers movies. We also got the tidbit from The Hollywood Reporter that Avengers 5 will get “a new name and a new focus.” As announced at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2022, the next Avengers movie was going to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and feature Jonathan Majors’ villainous Kang the Conqueror. With Majors fired, that plan has changed. SDCC 2024 is fast approaching. It’s probably safe to assume Kevin Feige will tell us the new plan during Marvel’s Hall H panel. Until then, we have a few ideas on what form we’d like to see the next Avengers movie take.

Avengers: Dark Reign

Traditionally, the Avengers have gone up against one big villain at a time. Maybe it’s time for them to face off against a big bad super team. Before Avengers 5 releases on May 1, 2026, we’re getting the debut of the Thunderbolts on May 2, 2025. T-Bolts features a team of anti-heroes and villains forced to do the US government’s dirty work. It’s not unlike DC’s Suicide Squad. In the comics, the Thunderbolts brought about a massive change to the Marvel Universe that left it consumed by chaos and darkness for an entire calendar year. Villains ruled and heroes became outcasts – a period known as Dark Reign. That sounds like the kind of epic premise that’d make for a good Avengers movie.

The Dark Reign comics initiative saw the Thunderbolts forcibly replace Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as the Dark Avengers. Their leader was the supposedly reformed (but not really) Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin. Osborn rose to power by stealing credit for ending the Skrulls’ secret invasion of Earth. He scrapped S.H.I.E.L.D. and replaced it with the authoritarian H.A.M.M.E.R. He used them to enforce his brutal version of justice and hunt down heroes who would oppose him. Obviously the MCU is in a very different state than the comics. Still, there is an opportunity for the story to play out in a similar fashion. 

While we know Marvel is keen to move on from Kang, it might be a good idea to address the Council of Kangs we saw in the post-credits scene to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, if only to provide some closure. They looked pretty intent on wreaking some multiversal havoc, after all. Perhaps Avengers 5 could start with the Avengers enacting a plan to eliminate the Kangs, but the Thunderbolts get involved and take credit for the win. This would see them become the world’s new premiere super team and leave the Avengers out in the cold. 

The mastermind behind the MCU’s Thunderbolts is Valentina “Val” Allegra de Fontaine. We’ve seen Val picking up new, morally questionable members over the years, so it would be Val who seizes power and ushers in the MCU’s Dark Reign. In the comics, the mentally unstable Superman-like character the Sentry serves on the Dark Avengers. He is reportedly going to make his MCU debut in the Thunderbolts movie, played by actor Lewis Pullman. The Sentry is constantly fighting to subdue his dark side, a seriously scary and enormously powerful entity called the Void. This would make for the ultimate foe the Avengers must face to end Val’s reign of terror.

But how would all of this lead into the sixth Avengers movie, Secret Wars? We’re glad you asked. The cosmic being the Beyonder was the villain of the original Secret Wars in 1984, but Doctor Doom is the villain of the modern version from 2015. This is the one we expect the MCU to adapt, given they’ve already referenced its universe-destroying “incursions” in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

As it happens, during Dark Reign, Osborn formed a dark version of the Illuminati called the Cabal. Among their number was none other than Doctor Doom. That makes an Avengers: Dark Reign movie the ideal time to introduce Doom to the MCU. (That of course assumes he doesn’t pop up in 2025’s The Fantastic Four first.) So while the Avengers and the Dark Avengers are distracted battling each other, Doom would be hatching his own master plan to rule, leading us right into Secret Wars.

Avengers vs. X-Men

The trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine shows the duo jumping into what appears to be one of Doctor Strange’s signature sparkly portals. If they wind up in the MCU on the other side, then it’ll have huge ramifications. What if the other X-Men from the X-verse also come to the MCU? It would lead to a clash between two iconic Marvel superhero teams, just like in the 2012 event comic Avengers vs. X-Men. 

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes clashing with the Children of the Atom on the big screen would be beyond epic. We used to get a new Avengers movie (or two) every phase of the MCU, but Phase Four and Five have left fans wanting. A crossover event movie like AvX would certainly make up for lost time. Seeing the likes of Captain Marvel, Hulk, and Thor face off with mutants such as Magneto, Wolverine, and Storm would be so cool that it’d hardly need a plot to justify it. Even so, we have some ideas.

While Deadpool & Wolverine hasn’t hit theaters yet and we don’t know what the ultimate fate of the X-Men will be, the ruins of the 20th Century Fox logo in the background of the trailers certainly has us thinking the movie will destroy the X-Men universe. If Deadpool and Wolverine are able to save their fellow mutants by ferrying them to the MCU, or perhaps by merging the X-verse with the MCU, then the Avengers might see it as an invasion of their world by uncanny beings with extraordinary powers. You can imagine why they might come to blows. In the comic, the X-Men fought the Avengers over the fate of the Phoenix to ensure their survival as a species. In this theoretical AvX movie, the X-Men would be outsiders battling to survive in a universe that hates and fears them. 

If AvX does feature a merging of Marvel universes, then it would undoubtedly catch the attention of Doctor Doom. He’s always looking for new power to exploit and claim for his own. In the first trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine, eagle-eyed fans spotted a Secret Wars comic book sporting Doom’s face on the cover. One might take that as a hint the movie will start us on the road to the Secret Wars movie. If that ends up being the case, then you’d be able to draw a line from Deadpool & Wolverine to Avengers vs. X-Men and right into Secret Wars.

In the modern Secret Wars comic, the Marvel multiverse is destroyed. From the ashes, Doctor Doom forms a new world where he rules as God Emperor Doom. Perhaps Doctor Doom will notice the merging of the MCU with the X-Verse. And perhaps this will inspire him to do that same thing, but on a much bigger scale, by smashing the entire multiverse together and reforming it into one single, perfect world for him to rule. 

It’s worth mentioning the comics have already established Doom as someone who can eliminate Kang. Bringing Doom in early might be the easiest solution to Marvel’s Kang problem. In the comics, Doom and Kang are longtime frenemies who often team up to enact a nefarious scheme while secretly plotting the other’s downfall. Doom ordered Kang’s death in the original Secret Wars. On a different occasion in the 2021 Kang the Conqueror solo series, Doom went back in time to kill young Kang before he became a conqueror. 

Avengers: Children’s Crusade

A common critique of the Multiverse Saga is how there’s no singular narrative tying everything together. One comic book story from 2010 could show how it’s all connected, actually. Avengers: Children’s Crusade contains many elements currently at play in the MCU, making it ideal for Avengers 5. The tale sees the Young Avengers go on a personal mission for their friend Wiccan to find his long-lost mother, the Scarlet Witch. It’s an action-adventure thriller that sees the youths run afoul of the Avengers, X-Men, and, ultimately, Marvel’s most diabolical villain.

All the ingredients for this story are currently on the table in the MCU. Marvel has been setting up the Young Avengers for many years. Ms. Marvel finally pulled a Nick Fury and went off to find all the members, as seen in the post-credits scene for The Marvels. This story would finally give them a reason to assemble! 

WandaVision introduced youngsters Billy and Teddy, and a teenage Wiccan appears to be a main character in the upcoming series Agatha All Along. The Scarlet Witch went to the dark side in the Doctor Strange sequel and presumably died. However, that last spark of red magic during her death scene seems to hint otherwise. 

And, again, while we don’t know the fate of the Fox X-Men yet, the MCU has already introduced a few mutants (Ms. Marvel, Namor, Beast). So there’s a chance the X-Men could be a part of the MCU in some form by the time Avengers 5 rolls around. Children’s Crusade would bring together all of these elements to tell a personal, tragic story about the fall of Wanda Maximoff and her impact on the Avengers superhero family.

In a plot twist that is all too convenient for our theory, when the heroes do eventually find Wanda, she’s in the company of, yep, you guessed it, Doctor Doom. Turns out Doom was the one responsible for Wanda’s powers increasing, causing the events of Avengers: Disassembled and House of M. Many Marvel fans were shocked when Wanda went that evil in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This plot may be a welcome revelation. Doom is not only a scientific genius but a gifted sorcerer. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he found a way to magically manipulate Wanda.

At the end of the Children’s Crusade comic, Doom steals Wanda’s godlike power and goes on a magical power trip. Doctor Doom with the reality-warping powers of the Scarlet Witch? Sounds like the perfect way to tee up for Secret Wars to us. 

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