Breaking Down the Newest Avengers: Doomsday Tease From Robert Downey, Jr.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps!

Marvel Studios may be sitting out their traditional Hall H panel at SDCC this year, but Robert Downey, Jr. is at least ensuring that MCU fans have some food for thought during Comic-Con. Downey posted a cryptic teaser video on Instagram, showing him listening to music and reading a copy of 1988’s The West Coast Avengers #35. Of course, Doctor Doom’s face is featured prominently on the cover, leading to immediate speculation about that comic’s relevance to the plot of Avengers: Doomsday.

So, what exactly is Downey teasing here? What happens in The West Coast Avengers #35, and how might it inform Downey’s portrayal of Doctor Doom? Here’s what you need to know.

What Happens in The West Coast Avengers #35?

As the name suggests, The West Coast Avengers was a companion series to the core Avengers comic that focused on a different group of heroes operating out of California. The roster in this issue includes Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Tigra, and Moon Knight. In that sense, we’re not expecting much overlap between the comic and the movie, as none of those characters are confirmed to appear in Doomsday (though we wouldn’t be surprised to see Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton at some point).

That said, the comic may be a nod to the fact that there are indeed two different Avengers teams operating in the MCU. Anthony Mackie’s Captain America has reformed the Avengers in the wake of Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts* ended with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra De Fontaine christening her team “The New Avengers” (with the movie’s title being altered post-release to match). The post-credits scene in Thunderbolts/The New Avengers makes it clear the two teams aren’t really getting along, which is surely a hurdle our heroes will have to overcome in Doomsday.

As for what happens in The West Coast Avengers #35, this issue deals with Doom’s adopted son, Kristoff Vernard. At this point in the Marvel timeline, Doom is believed to be dead, and Kristoff is ruling Latveria in his place, implanted with the memories of his father and believing himself to be the real deal. In this issue, Kristoff captures several of the Avengers and battles Moon Knight’s godly benefactor Khonshu.

Again, while we’ve met Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight and F. Murray Abraham’s Khonshu in the Moon Knight series, there’s no reason to assume either has a part to play in Avengers: Doomsday. We assume this tease has more to do with Kristoff, and more specifically, Doctor Doom’s history with fatherhood.

Is Avengers: Doomsday About Fathers and Sons?

Indeed, fatherhood seems to be the key takeaway from Downey’s teaser. It’s worth pointing out that the song Downey is listening to, “Change of Scenery,” is performed by his son Indio. That, combined with the image of a comic about Doctor Doom’s son, suggests that Downey wants fans to be thinking about fathers and sons.

That’s likely to be a big theme in Doomsday. For one thing, we know Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards is a central character in the film. Father/son relationships is already a big theme in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with Galactus essentially being a metaphor for the looming specter of parenthood (as well as being a very literal threat to Earth). That’s likely to continue in Doomsday.

Based on how First Steps ends, Doomsday will probably open with Doctor Doom kidnapping young Franklin Richards and making a beeline for Earth-616, forcing Reed and his family to pursue. Reed and Vanessa Kirby’s Sue will be desperate to reunite with their son, forming what will surely be one of the key emotional throughlines of the film.

There’s also the fact that Doomsday and its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, are drawing heavily on the Marvel Comics work of Jonathan Hickman. Hickman’s Fantastic Four and Avenegrs runs are both also heavily steeped in parenthood themes. His Avengers run opens with Reed bemoaning the fact that “everything dies,” only for it to end with Reed’s faith restored, his family reunited, and Reed declaring “everything lives.” Downey’s tease would seem to suggest that Doomsday and Secret Wars have similar ideas in mind.

What about Doom himself? How does he play into the theme of fatherhood? We suspect it somehow has a lot to do with Doom’s origin and motivations in these movies. There’s still the all-important question of why Downey of all people has been cast as Doom. Is Doom the Tony Stark of Earth-828? Given that First Steps takes place in the ‘60s, is it possible that Doom is that universe’s Howard Stark? Or is he Victor Von Doom, a man who just happens to share the face of Tony Stark?

Whatever the answer, we wonder if some tragedy robs Doom of his family, compelling him to kidnap Franklin and harness the boy’s abilities to create new worlds and universes. Is Doom trying to build a world where his family lives again? Or is the idea that Battleworld will be a refuge for those he cares about when the rest of the multiverse collapses? The MCU’s Doom could wind up having very different motivations from his self-absorbed comic book counterpart.

What do you make of Downey’s teaser? Let us know your theories in the comments below. Andbe sure to check out our breakdown on the shared history between Doctor Doom and Iron Man.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.