The Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel Saga: A Never-Ending Love Story!
RDJ is back!! The Russo Brothers are Back!! We are so Back!!!
Thatās a shocker: Robert Downey Jr. will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, the next Avengers movie.
The Russo brothers announced at Marvelās San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday night, shortly after being announced as the directors of Doomsday and the follow-up movie, Avengers: Secret Wars.
Downey Jr. walked out on stage in a Doom costume, complete with a mask, for a dramatic reveal. Marvel Studiosās Twitter account posted the actual moment of the unmasking and the fan reaction that followed:
āNew mask,ā Downey Jr. said. āSame task.ā
The fifth major crossover film from Marvel, previously known as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, will now be named Avengers: Doomsday, emphasizing iconic villain Victor von Doom.
However, one has to ask how RDJ will play one of Marvelās biggest villains when he is already one of the MCUās biggest heroes of all time.
How will the MCU Multiverse come into play here?
Firstly, the MCU is currently amid its ongoing Multiverse Saga. Thus far, the concepts of multiple variants of heroes and villains from other realities, timelines, and dimensions have been established.
The MCUās Peter Parker got to meet and fight alongside the different versions of Spider-Man from past Sony franchises. Loki got to track down and meet his variants across timelines. A Council of KangsĀ wasĀ assembling.
However, with RDJ as the new Doctor Doom, the universe has never been used so extensively in casting.
As said by the Russo Brothers at SDCCās Hall H in front of a legion of costumed and masked Doctor Dooms: āAs proof of the unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multiverse, we give you the one person who could play Victor von Doom.ā shortly before RDJ stepped forward and removed his mask.
The multiverse makes this possible through various interesting pathways, many of which revolve around the MCUās Doctor Doom, a darker version of Tony Stark.
Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Endgame | Source: IMDb
How Does The Fantastic Fourās Alternate Universe Setting Make An Iron Man Variant More Possible?
While Doctor Doom poses a significant threat to various Marvel Universe characters, he is primarily an adversary of The Fantastic Four and the true foe of Reed Richardsā Mister Fantastic.
Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, and Joseph Quinn in The Fantastic Four (2025) | Source: IMDb
To that end, the fact that itās already been confirmed thatĀ The Fantastic Four: First StepsĀ is set in an alternate retro-futuristic reality apart from the main MCU does help in terms of RDJās likely having been cast as a darker Iron Man variant who becomes Doom in this timeline
After all, itās not hard to envision Tony Starkās ego clashing with Reed Richards, the Worldās Smartest Man.
At any point, the hope is that RDJās Doom will begin in this alternate universe as a foe to Marvelās First Family before evolving into his vastly more powerful āGod Emperorā incarnation, as depicted in the comicsā Secret Wars event in 2015.
To that end, Doomās appearances in 2025ās Fantastic Four and Avengers: Doomsday before Secret Wars will hopefully give the MCU enough time for audiences to truly get to know who this Doom is and what heās all about before the stakes are likely to be dramatically raised with the Multiverse Saga-ending Secret Wars.
About Marvel Cinematic Universe
TheĀ Marvel Cinematic UniverseĀ (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and TV series, independently produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The franchise includes comic books, short films, television series, and digital series. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
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