Popverse's top stories of the day

• Harley Quinn is making April Fools Day 2025 one to remember with a not-so-sweet-smelling DC comic book special
• Watch the D&D, Warhammer, Mega Man, and more anthology panel Secret Level from Prime Video, filmed at NYCC 2024
• Nintendo's long-time Mario voice actor reveals the secret behind voicing Mario's Dad in the movie (and how it goes back to his original audition decades ago)

This piece was previously available only to Popverse members; learn more about membership, and how to support the site, right here.

We know, from San Diego Comic-Con’s much-discussed Hall H panel, that Marvel has abandoned its original plan to make Kang the centerpiece of its current uber-storyline, The Multiverse Saga, in favor of the returning Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. We also know that the fifth Avengers film, which had been titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, is now titled Avengers: Doomsday. What we don’t know, is this: is Marvel still actually making The Multiverse Saga?

Okay, okay, let me explain that question a little. The Multiverse Saga, as it had been unfolding before Kang was quietly moved aside, was a story that had a very specifically focused arc: the multiverse as a concept in the MCU was something that was all about Kang — he was the character who had discovered its existence, he and his variants were the prime movers in both the first Multiversal War and the pruning of the timeline to the MCU that fans knew and loved (all of which was revealed in the first season of Loki), and he was also apparently the biggest threat to existence as the multiverse once again came into existence, as seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. As fun as the Multiverse Saga was in its ability to showcase different takes on fan-favorite ideas or characters (hi, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!), the Multiverse Saga was really a story about Kang.

And then, it wasn’t.

Obviously, there are real reasons why that’s the case, and Marvel had accidentally painted itself into a corner when it revealed that Jonathan Majors played every single Kang variant at the end of Quantumania, making recasting the role of Kang significantly trickier moving forward after the actor’s behavior pushed Disney to cut ties with him. Circumstances outside of Marvel’s control significantly changed the trajectory of the Multiverse Saga, and we have no idea what it’s going to look like going forward… and that’s what I’m most curious about.

Obviously, even with the switch in bad guy from Kang to Doctor Doom, we know things are still going to end in Avengers: Secret Wars — which shares its subtitle with a 2015 comic book series involving both the collapse of the multiverse and Doctor Doom in a big way. Was the original intention of Secret Wars the movie to use Kang where Secret Wars the comic had used Doom? We may never know, but there is, at least, a space to slot Doom into in the new world order if Marvel Studios executives want to hew close to comic book inspiration. But here’s the thing; Marvel comic book lore has an entirely different Secret Wars to pull from that also has Doctor Doom in the center of it, and doesn’t feature the multiverse at all. What if that is the Secret Wars used as a basis for whatever will reach theaters in 2027?

On the face of it, it seems ridiculous — there’s a relatively straightforward switch of Kang and Doom that’s perfectly plausible, after all — but doing so robs the overall story of its weight by removing consequences for the person at the center of events… or, at least, the person who was meant to be there. So is the solution to just entirely rewrite the second half of the story altogether to try and give it more meaning and purpose, and not simply do a find-and-replace for ‘Kang’ and ‘Doom’? Maybe… but, again, if that’s the case, is Marvel really still making The Multiverse Saga?

We’ll likely find out next year, when Marvel Studios comes back in full force with Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic 4: First Steps — each one likely offering a clue about how much of a new direction the new direction of the MCU really is… and how big a presence Doctor Doom is going to her before Doomsday arrives in 2026.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga
• If Marvel is going to bring Loki back for Secret Wars, it's time to give him an upgrade
• With Daredevil, and spinoffs from Black Panther, What If, and more, Marvel Studios' 2025 Disney+ slate is bigger than ever, and that might be a big deal for the future
• If Kraven the Hunter flops, Sony's Spider-Man Universe could look for a Marvel-assisted reboot
• In 2021, Sony's boss said people won't miss Spider-Man in its Spider-adjacent movie. Turns out, they do.