Does Avengers: Doomsday Mean the Kang Dynasty Storyline Is Cancelled?

After months of speculation, Marvel Studios has finally revealed Avengers: The Kang Dynasty‘s new title: Avengers: Doomsday. So, with Kang the Conqueror out and Doctor Doom in, does this mean the MCU’s Kang Dynasty storyline is cancelled?

Related: Avengers: Doomsday: Does Iron Man Become Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics?

Is the MCU’s Kang Dynasty Storyline Cancelled?

Yes and no – it depends what you mean by “cancelled.” Yes, the pivot away from Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror to Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom means that Marvel Studios has likely scrapped a decent chunk of what it originally had planned for the fifth Avengers installment. What’s more, Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo indicated at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 that Doctor Doom will also serve as the main antagonist of the sixth Avengers entry, Secret Wars – a role previously earmarked for Kang. So yes, in that sense, the Kang Dynasty storyline is cancelled.

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That said, the bones of the “Multiverse Saga” – the overarching narrative that connects the MCU Phases Four to Six – will likely stay the same. The Avengers and their pals will still face off against a formidable baddie. And that showdown will almost certainly culminate in some kind of multiverse-hopping conflict (Marvel kept the Secret Wars title, after all). It’s just that now, Doctor Doom will sub in for Kang. A lot of the details will be different (for one thing, Doom’s arch-enemies the Fantastic Four will apparently play an even bigger part in proceedings). But the second multi-phase MCU epic should shake out roughly the way Marvel always planned – minus Kang and his dynasty.

When Did Marvel Decide to Replace Kang with Doom?

Marvel Studios was toying with the Kang/Doom switcheroo as early as September 2023. That’s according to a November 2023 Variety report, which claimed studio boss Kevin Feige and his team began planning Kang’s franchise exit before firing Jonathan Majors the following December. Variety’s sources also correctly pegged Doom as the time-travelling villain’s replacement. Robert Downey Jr. filling the role seemingly wasn’t on the table yet, however.

Related: Is Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

That’s back of house covered; were there any public signs that Kang was no longer the center of the Multiverse Saga? A couple. For starters, Disney+ series Loki‘s second season hedged its bets where the Kang storyline was concerned (dialogue in the Season 2 finale implied that the Time Variance Authority’s agents were dealing with the Council of Kangs off-screen). Then there’s Avengers 5‘s title rejig. Marvel quietly dropped the “Kang Dynasty” suffix after cutting Majors loose – a subtle signifier that Kang’s MCU days were numbered.

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in cinemas on on May 1, 2026.