'Black Panther 2' leak reveals the debut of the MCU’s next great villain

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding at an exponential rate, just like our own. Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Moon Knight have all introduced multiple new MCU heroes and villains, while films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home have blown open Marvel’s multiverse. Now, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to further expand the MCU’s existing character lineup, with both Riri Williams and Namor the Sub-Mariner rumored to appear in it.

According to a game-changing new MCU leak, Namor and Riri Williams aren’t the only major Marvel Comics characters set to debut in Wakanda Forever either. As a matter of fact, the Black Panther sequel may bring one of Marvel’s greatest villains into the MCU for the first time.

The Leak — Earlier this week, an alleged plot summary of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever leaked online, and it claims that none other than Doctor Doom will appear at the end of the film. In the aftermath of the leak’s debut, several known Marvel insiders have backed up the claim.

In case that wasn’t surprising enough, a new piece of alleged concept art has debuted online, which may offer fans their first look at Doom’s cameo in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It depicts a relatively comics-accurate version of Doctor Doom standing before a still-unknown character.

Of course, given the fact that Marvel has yet to address Doctor Doom’s possible future in the MCU, make sure to take the concept art’s alleged validity with a massive grain of salt for the time being.

Doom is Coming to the MCU — Ever since Marvel announced that it was developing a Fantastic Four movie, it has seemed like only a matter of time before the team’s nemesis, Doctor Doom, makes his MCU debut. Namor’s rumored inclusion in Wakanda Forever suggests that the Black Panther sequel may further explore the MCU’s global politics, making it seem like a suitable film for Doom, the ruler of Latveria, to appear in.

Beyond that, the MCU needs more Thanos-level villains capable of uniting the franchise’s heroes together. Right now, the general consensus among fans is that Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is going to fill that role.

However, there’s still a lot that hasn’t been revealed about Marvel’s Kang plans, and it’s entirely possible that the iconic comic book villain may end up being less important to the future of the MCU than fans have long thought.

Fortunately, Doctor Doom is the kind of villain who is powerful enough to take over the MCU should Kang’s arc ultimately takes a different direction than fans expect. But even if he doesn’t end up being its next Thanos, Doom is still someone who can be a major antagonistic figure within the MCU, especially with teams like the Fantastic Four and the X-Men expected to arrive at different points in the next few years.

None of that automatically means that Doctor Doom will definitely make his MCU debut at the end of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, it is worth noting that Marvel fans learned about Patrick Stewart’s return as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness via a concept art leak last year that feels very similar to this Doctor Doom leak.

Taking that into account, along with some recent comments from several reliable Marvel leakers, it seems like a legitimate possibility that Doctor Doom will, indeed, have a cameo in Wakanda Forever.

The Inverse Analysis — Between its inclusion of characters like Riri Williams and Namor and its presumed appointment of Chadwick Boseman’s MCU successor, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is already shaping up to be one of the more important of Marvel’s Phase 4 titles. However, if the film manages to do all that and introduce Doctor Doom, it could very well end up being the biggest title that Marvel releases this year.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters on November 11, 2022.