Avengers: Doomsday Highlights MCU’s Power Level Shift
With Avengers: Doomsday introducing a new major villain, the evolving power scale in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has raised significant concerns. Doctor Doom must be portrayed as the most formidable character yet, but recent MCU films have escalated hero and villain abilities to such extremes that creating a new believable threat is challenging.
Growing Power Creep in the MCU
Since Avengers: Endgame, Marvel has continuously increased the power levels of its characters to surpass previous movies. This trend, while aiming to impress audiences, now undermines the impact of new characters, making it difficult for someone like Doctor Doom—essentially a man in armor—to stand out as a genuine threat.
Examples of Power Escalation
- The MCU has introduced cosmic and multiversal entities such as the Council of Kangs, the Celestials, Mephisto, and Galactus.
- Among heroes, Carol Danvers is exceptionally powerful, to the extent that she was kept off Earth during Avengers: Infinity War to balance the story.
- The Hulk was deliberately toned down by emphasizing his intelligence, which reduces his raw strength.
Challenges and Possible Solutions
Marvel faces the task of addressing this "power creep" to make Doctor Doom both credible and menacing. While there are potential fixes to re-balance the scale, time is tight with the film's release approaching.
Doctor Doom has to appear all-powerful, but the MCU has made it hard to make a man in armor seem any kind of threat after the past decade of movies.
The escalating power levels complicate efforts to introduce a new dominant villain, risking diminished audience engagement with the story’s stakes.
Author's Summary
The MCU's constant escalation of character power threatens to undermine new villains' impact, making Doctor Doom's introduction in Avengers: Doomsday a difficult balancing act.