'Avengers: Doomsday': Who Else Has Doom 'Collected'?

The recent release of Avengers: Endgame Encore is helping build upon the already significant hype for the upcoming release of Avengers: Doomsday with the inclusion of four new scenes tying to the new film. One of these scenes focuses on Bruce Banner.

Having sequestered himself in a deep and apparently inaccessible underground bunker after The Hulk's rampage during the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Bruce has been working on a new Gamma-inhibitor to keep the Hulk at bay. While recording a video diary for the first test of his new device, the bunker is invaded by Dr. Doom, who claims he is there to 'collect' him.

Fans now believe that Doom plans to turn The Hulk against the heroes, and that he may not be the first character Doom has collected. Let's take a look at some of the other possibilities.

The Scarlet Witch

Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, was last seen back in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. After shaking off the Darkhold's corruption, Wanda wields her chaos magic to destroy every copy of the Darkhold throughout the Multiverse to save anyone else from being harmed by the evil book in the future. In-universe, she is widely believed to have been killed in the process, with Mt. Wundagore apparently collapsing on top of her. However, mentions of her apparent death in subsequent projects have been left very much ambiguous.

Fans have always doubted Wanda's death, and news of Doom's collection has only increased that doubt. Many now believe that Wanda has been collected by Doom, and could be one of the Latverian Witches accompanying him in the film. Her destruction of the Darkhold means her reality warping powers work across universes, making her a potentially powerful weapon in Doom's arsenal.

This would fit with events in the comics, where Wanda's villain arc through 'Avengers Disassembled' and 'House of M' is eventually revealed to have been influenced by Doom's manipulation. It could also lend weight to the rumour that Avengers: Secret Wars may be incorporating elements of 'Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade', a comic event story in which an amnesiac Wanda is rescued by her reincarnated children before she can marry Doom. In more recent comics, the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom are regularly depicted as rivals.

Doctor Strange

Like Wanda, Doctor Stephen Strange has not been seen since starring in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In the final moments of that film, Strange develops a third eye as a consequence of resorting to use of the Darkhold, and dreamwalking into a corpse.

This was initially an unpleasant shock, as a dark, corrupted Strange variant earlier in the film also possessed a third eye. However, in the post credits, Clea of the Dark Dimension comes for Strange, now apparently adjusted to his third eye, wanting help to thwart an Incursion Strange apparently caused.

Alongside the Latverian Witches, who's costume display caused a stir at San Diego Comic-Con in August, later Doomsday promotional images have added a Latverian Wizard/Warlock. Fans are guessing the wizard is Doctor Strange, as the mask includes an extra hole around where Strange's third eye is located. Of course, this raises the question of why Strange would side with Doom over the other heroes.

Is the Latverian Wizard a Strange variant, rather than the one we know? Has 616 Strange been brainwashed by Doom? Or has he simply been manipulated into believing Doom has good intentions? The latter, despite Strange's usual intelligence, is not entirely without precedent. In the conclusion of the 'Bloodhunt' event, despite many heroes insisting it is a bad idea, Strange is convinced to pass the powers of the Sorcerer Supreme to Doom so he can cast the spell that will end the current vampire invasion, on the condition that he return the powers once the spell is done. Instead, predictably, Doom flees with the powers and temporarily takes over the world.

Clea of the Dark Dimension

As mentioned above, Charlize Theron first appears as the MCU's version of Clea, a magic user from the Dark Dimension, in Multiverse of Madness's post credits scene, recruiting Stephen Strange to help her deal with an incursion. In Marvel Comics, Clea is an ally, love interest, and eventually the wife of Doctor Strange.

The MCU draws a distinction between Sorcery and Witchcraft as different branches of magic. As Clea's costume shares some design elements with that of the Scarlet Witch, most theories lean toward MCU Clea as a witch rather than a Sorceress. Some fans theorise that Clea is the purple Latverian Witch of Doom's coven, but if true, there is likely some manipulation at play, as Clea is usually a force of good in the comics.

Sylvie

Sylvie, first appearing in Loki season one, is a female Loki variant with the goal of destroying the timekeepers and restoring free will to the Multiverse. She accomplished her goal with the murder of He-Who-Remains in the season one finale.

Sylvie irritated some fans with her initial resistance to helping Loki and the reformed TVA deal with the troubles and consequences of the Multiverse's existence in season two. However, she is clearly affected by witnessing Loki's sacrifice at the end of the series, as he takes his throne holding together and watching over the Multiverse.

Many fans now believe that Sylvie will appear in Doomsday as the Green Latverian Witch. However, after her efforts to restore multiversal free will, it seems odd that Sylvie would willingly side with Doom's desire to destroy and control, so her potential involvement would likely involve some sort of kidnapping or brainwashing.

Franklin Richards

Introduced in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Franklin Richards, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, was born with extensive cosmic powers. Most of the film focuses on the Fantastic Four's efforts to prevent Galactus from taking Franklin as a replacement for himself.

The post-credits scene of First Steps, set four years after the rest of the film, ends with an encounter between Doom and Franklin. The second trailer for Doomsday confirms that the Fantastic Four are already aware of and had an existing relationship with Victor von Doom. The same trailer also features a shot of a clearly distressed Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch, carrying Franklin, possibly fleeing an attack.

Some fans now fear that Doom wants Franklin for his powers, and as a way to taunt the Fantastic Four. In the 2015 'Secret Wars' comic event, Franklin eventually proved instrumental in the restoration of Earth-616 following the end of the Battleworld, and may be set for a similar role in the film.

Spider-Man

All MCU fans are aware that Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, has been through a rough time in recent years. However, he ends Spider-Man: Brand New Day in a slightly better place, having made a few new friends. Unfortunately Peter's new start may be short-lived.

In the post-credits scene for Brand New Day, the map of Ned Leeds' Spidey-Tracker glitches, and Spider-Man's location seems to change from Earth to somewhere in space. Fans have now noted the glitch effect used is similar to when Doom comes for Hulk in Endgame Encore's extra footage, and some fear the glitch is a sign Spidey may have been snatched by Doom.

However, it's equally possible the scene is a reference to Secret Wars. In the comics, a special selection of characters are rescued and placed aboard a multi-dimensional ship prior to everyone else being transported to Doom's Battleworld. If the Secret Wars film takes the same path, many fans believe Spidey will be among those rescued, joining a strike team of sorts to rescue the other heroes from Battleworld.

We may learn more about Doom's targets as Doomsday grows closer to release.

To read more or leave a TIP, please visit my Profile.