10 Best Comics Avengers: Doomsday Could Adapt

After the hugely successful release of Deadpool and Wolverine and the very exciting Marvel Studios Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, hype and hope have finally returned for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only is Robert Downey Jr. returning to the superhero franchise to play the tyrannous Dr. Doom, but the Russo brothers have also returned to direct the highly-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday and the Multiverse Saga’s grand finale, Avengers: Secret Wars.

In Marvel Comics, Secret Wars was the end of the Multiverse – after multiple incursions, only Earth-616 (the main Marvel Universe) and Earth-6160 (the Ultimate Universe) were left, and the two universes collided. Avengers: Doomsday will be the film that ultimately leads into Avengers: Secret Wars, so it is very intriguing to think about how the movie could set up the saga’s final film, especially considering the vast scale of Marvel projects (MCU and beyond). Although there is no obvious direct comic adaptation for the movie, many different Marvel stories could be adapted in some form to inspire Avengers: Doomsday.

10 Infamous Iron Man

In this story, after Tony Stark’s supposed death, Victor Von Doom attempts heroism – taking on the mantle of Iron Man. Doom seemed to care about being a hero, ensuring he saved innocent civilians from danger and even apologizing to them for not being used to caring. Later in the comic series, it is revealed that Doom looked up to Reed Richards and Tony Stark and decided to do good after failing with Battleworld. As Iron Man, Doom even teamed up with Dr. Strange to take on Mephisto, showing how much he had changed.

Doom’s adaptation could be inspired by Infamous Iron Man in some way, showing him as a hero before his true villainy. Doom was the Multiverse’s savior during Secret Wars, and Iron Man was the MCU’s savior in Endgame, so a potential combination of the characters as the MCU’s next big bad is not out of the question, especially considering Robert Downey Jr. also played Iron Man. Doom’s introduction as a version of Iron Man could be how he meets the heroes of the Sacred Timeline, posing as a variant of their beloved fallen hero, before his villainous morals and plans are revealed.

9 Avengers: Emperor Doom

Dr. Doom’s main goal has always been world domination, and he achieves it in this 1987 Avengers story. Through the forced use of Zebediah Kilgrave/Purple Man, a villain with mind-control capabilities, he enslaved humanity while using Namor to eliminate those unaffected. Among his mind-controlled population were the Avengers, except for Wonder Man, who helped free some of the heroes to take down Doom. However, it was actually Doom’s own flaws that led to his defeat, perfectly chronicling his unquenchable desire for perfection.

Although it is difficult to determine exactly how much power Doom will already have in Avengers: Doomsday, the movie’s title and rumors suggest it to be high. In this storyline, Doom achieves world peace, stops crime, and achieves other great feats, so in many ways, he has saved the world – which could explain how he knew how to create Battleworld in the MCU with world-saving experience. Furthermore, Doom’s conquest of power often leads him to search for items of great abilities to use, just like with the Purple Man. Killgrave has already been established in Jessica Jones, so this would be a great opportunity to bring David Tennant back into the MCU for a bigger role.

8 Heroes Reborn: Doomsday

Following Counter-Earth’s abandonment by the Marvel Universe’s heroes, the planet’s version of New York is overwhelmingly flooded and ruled by Atlanteans. The story follows Samantha Dunbar, a woman who sees a bright human-like object appear in the sky and helplessly plummet into the water. She immediately jumps to rescue said object. Enter Doom, the object that fell from the sky, which Samantha revives. Early in the series, Doom downloads the planet’s data, and Samantha reveals to the reader that she now knows her world is nothing but a figment of Franklin Richards’s imagination. A world without heroes is Doom’s perfect opportunity to achieve world domination – something he quickly realizes.

It is heavily rumored that The Fantastic Four will leave their universe in Fantastic Four: First Steps to join the MCU, leaving their world behind without any heroes. This could easily pave the way for Heroes Reborn: Doomsday to be adapted in the upcoming Avengers film, where Doom saves the abandoned planet and brings it into the Sacred Timeline (perhaps through an incursion), similar to how he brings this world into the comics’ 616 Universe. Multiple new variants could appear on this Counter-Earth, helping increase the tense build-up to Avengers: Secret Wars and further establish Doom as a successful villain.

7 Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars

Marvel Comics’ first-ever crossover event was Secret Wars, which was released in 1984 for the sole purpose of promoting an action-figure toy range. Despite its disappointing purpose, Secret Wars ended up being one of Marvel’s best stories, with iconic moments like Spider-Man getting his black suit in Secret Wars #8 and important lore-changing moments like Molecule-Man’s status upgrade that set up countless future stories. As for the narrative, a being known as the Beyonder abducted Earth’s heroes and villains to Battleworld, forcing them to battle each other.

Amidst all this fighting, none other than Doom stood up to the Beyonder and defeated him, becoming the universe’s most superior being. With rumors of the TVA collecting anchor beings from different universes in Avengers: Doomsday, it makes sense that they would be transported somewhere and face off against a big bad, like the Beyonder or a Doom-powered Beyonder. Both takes on the storyline could introduce a deadly new threat to the MCU.

6 Ultimate Comics: Doomsday

Combining three miniseries, Ultimate Comics: Enemy, Ultimate Comics: Mystery, and Ultimate Comics: Doom (although they all combine into one larger narrative), Doomsday follows the remaining members of The Fantastic Four after the events of Ultimatum, facing off against an unknown threat who is attempting to change the timeline, gravely damaging it in the process. It is later revealed that the villain behind this threat is Reed Richards, who was hurt by breaking up with Sue and the events during Ultimatum. The Maker would play a huge role in the lead-up to Secret Wars.

Depending on the direction of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the Maker could debut in the former, as he plays an important role up to the complete annihilation of the Multiverse. If not Reed, then another character like Doom or Kang could take his place, as it seems vital to set up the character in some form throughout the fifth Avengers movie to transition into Secret Wars, especially if it adapts other stories that set up the huge crossover event.

5 The Ultimates Volume 4 (2024)

Although this version of Dr. Doom has nothing to do with Iron Man in the comics, his origins seem very likely to hold the answers as to why Robert Downey Jr. is playing the villain. In this particular storyline, Reed Richards, the fan-favorite Marvel hero known as Mr. Fantastic, strayed from his fateful path after being tortured by the Maker and forced to help him warp the timeline. Through these traumatic experiences, the broken hero becomes the villainous Dr. Doom, set on liberating the world with the help of the Ultimates from the regime created by the Maker.

Not much is known about this story yet, as The Ultimates is fresh and ongoing but is already very popular among Marvel fans. This Doom variant is the perfect one for the MCU to adapt – swap Reed Richards for Tony Stark, and a twisted combination of Iron Man and Dr. Doom is born. This variant could help fix the MCU’s Kang plothole while setting a dark Doom up as the stronger character.

4 Avengers Vs. X-Men

In the comics, Avengers Vs. X-Men happened when the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, and the two superhero groups disagreed on how to deal with it. While the Avengers believe the Phoenix will end all life on Earth, the X-Men believe it would lead to the rebirth of Mutants, leading to one of Marvel Comics’ most devastating wars. In Avengers: Doomsday, this event could be adapted, but rather than fighting over the fate of the Phoenix Force, the groups are fighting for the survival of their world during the final incursion.

In the Secret Wars comics, when Earth-616 and Earth-6160 collide, destroying the multiverse, both worlds’ heroes battle in attempts to save their homes from destruction – two universes with years’ worth of character building and great stories. With Deadpool and Wolverine confirming that Fox’s X-Men Universe, Earth-10005, still exists, fans believe that it will act as the MCU’s Ultimate Universe, so it is only a matter of time until we see the X-Men face off against the Avengers before the creation of Battleworld.

3 Books Of Doom

Despite initially revealing his origins in Fantastic Four Annual #2, Doom’s beginnings were greatly expanded within the six-issue miniseries Books Of Doom. Told from the perspective of Doom being interviewed, readers learn much about Doom’s backstory, from his humble beginnings born to sorcerer Cynthia Von Doom in a Romani camp outside Latveria to ascending to his home nation’s absolute monarch. The series explored Doom’s goals to retrieve his mother’s soul from Mephisto and his motivations for world domination and was a true insight into the supervillain’s backstory.

Unlike Spider-Man or The Fantastic Four, Doom’s origins are much more complicated and lesser known, so it would be great to see them properly explored on the silver screen. Books of Doom would be the best comic to adapt to do this, as it is short but goes into lots of detail, and perfectly explains Doom’s goals. Furthermore, some fans are concerned with Robert Downey Jr.’s casting as Doom, given the mystery of this variant’s origins and Downey’s role as Iron Man, so giving him an origin story early on would help minimize any concerns.

2 Secret Wars: Last Days

The comic book prelude to Secret Wars, Last Days saw the Marvel Universe on the brink of collapse. It followed some of its best characters’ last few days before the destruction of the Multiverse. Each character had their own missions and goals that they wanted to achieve during this prelude – Silk, for example, is set on finding her family before the final incursion. The Avengers struggle to accept that there is very little they can do to prevent it. Magneto is desperately trying to save the planet, and Silver Surfer is trying to rebuild it amidst a galactic battle. A mix of these concepts could be adapted in Doomsday.

The Avengers will try their best to prevent the end of the Multiverse (likely with the help of The Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, Spider-Man, etc.) but ultimately fail, and many moments from Last Days could inspire what happens in Doomsday. As time begins to run out, it is likely Doomsday will feature characters trying to tie up loose ends and complete other big tasks, all of which the prelude comic collection covers beautifully. Also, as Galactus and the Silver Surfer will be arriving in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and considering that the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy are still out there, it is likely we will see a similar galactic war play out in the MCU at the end of the Multiverse.

Another major prelude to Secret Wars, Time Runs Out, was a twenty-issue story arc following the last eight months of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and their attempts to discover the origins of the Multiverse’s decay. Different Avengers and teams assisted in finding this origin and dealing with the disappearance of the Illuminati and the disgraced Avenger Iron Man. The series showed the Beyonders eliminating various Celestials and multiversal entities, demonstrating their immense power.

So much happened within this story beyond Dr. Doom’s attempts to stop the Multiverse’s destruction. The Shi’ar attempted to invade Earth, and the Maker and Nick Fury attempted to save Earth-6160, illustrating how inevitable the Multiverse’s annihilation is. This comic series would be perfect for Doomsday, as not only does it connect different ongoing storylines (which the MCU needs), but it shows why Secret Wars cannot be prevented, with the Avengers trying every avenue possible to do so. The story also involves The Fantastic Four and the Guardians of the Galaxy, among other groups and characters, meaning all MCU characters could have a worthy place in this story, finally reuniting the MCU just in time for the end of the Multiverse.