New Leak Hints the Original Iron Man Was a Timeline Error — Marvel Theory Just Got Real

Doctor Doom still hasn't fully crashed the MCU party, but a new fan theory is making the rounds that goes way harder than I expected. It ropes Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark into Doom's story, blames He Who Remains for basically forging Earth-616 in a lab, and puts Franklin Richards at the center of the next big swing. It's wild, it's grisly, and it kind of fits.

The theory, in plain English

• He Who Remains didn't just prune timelines; he built Earth-616 on purpose. He kept rewriting people and key events to prep 616 for a multiversal war and to hide it from other Kang variants.
• Victor Von Doom was flagged as too dangerous, so He Who Remains rewrote him into Tony Stark, wiping Doom's past from 616 and making Tony the Iron Man we know.
• Tony became the timeline's "Anchor Being" — essentially a stabilizer who also kept other Kangs from finding and attacking He Who Remains.
• When Tony died, the anchor vanished. Without that protection, Kang variants swarmed and killed He Who Remains.
• With He Who Remains gone, a Doom variant that hadn't been rewritten yet was freed — and now he knows what almost happened to him.
• This Doom wants to build his own universe where he can't be edited out of existence. His plan is to gather other heroes and ask for their powers to create a "better, safer" world — not to slaughter them, but to take what he needs.
• Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sees the threat and briefs everyone, which turns the Avengers and friends against Robert Downey Jr. — not as Iron Man this time, but as Doom.

Does the MCU actually point to this?

The theory hangs a lot on The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In the film's tease, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) finds a hooded figure sitting near her son, Franklin Richards. The way she reacts — shock, fear — does a lot of heavy lifting. The read is obvious: that's Doom, and it's bad.

Why Franklin Richards matters

Franklin Richards is one of Marvel Comics' most absurdly powerful characters. The kid has been called a Universe Shaper. He can manipulate matter and energy, whip up pocket dimensions, and bend reality, time, and space like they're soft clay. If you're Doom and you're trying to craft a new universe, Franklin is the cheat code you want in your pocket.

What this sets up

Now that the Fantastic Four are in Earth-616, they're either running from a Doom who already took over their original world or racing to save Franklin after an abduction. Either way, it gives the Avengers a reason to collide with Doom — and, if the theory is right, to discover that the face under the mask is Tony Stark's.

The receipts and the runway

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opened July 25, 2025, with Matt Shakman directing. It's sitting at 6.9/10 on IMDb, 86% on the Tomatometer with a 90% Audience Score, and has pulled in about $520 million worldwide. The next big date circled in red: Avengers: Doomsday, currently slated for December 18, 2026. If Marvel is actually steering toward Doom as the multiversal endboss, that's your window.

One line that captures the whole pitch

"He Who Remains created Earth-616 and kept it sacred and controlled to hide the multiverse's real history. Victor Von Doom was too dangerous, so he rewrote him into Tony Stark."

As theories go, this is a big swing — but it neatly explains why everything unraveled after Tony's death and gives Marvel a very dramatic way to bring RDJ back without undoing Iron Man's sacrifice. Gruesome? A little. Clever? Absolutely. And if Doom is really playing the long game for Franklin, brace for things to get weird fast.