Robert Downey Jr. returns to Marvel as Doctor Doom

‘Avengers: Doomsday’ will replace ‘The Kang Dynasty.’

Credit: Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Disney

Robert Downey Jr. is returning to Marvel — this time as an MCU villain.

Marvel and RDJ revealed the surprise at the end of the franchise’s panel at Comic-Con on Saturday, Deadline and others reported.

Previously, Downey Jr. played Iron Man from 2008’s Iron Man to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame (when, not to spoil a five-year-old movie, but he died). Now, he’ll play villain Victor Von Doom aka Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.

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As Polygon reported, in 2022 Marvel announced that the next Avengers would be The Kang Dynasty, starring Jonathan Majors. In December 2023, a New York court found Majors guilty of assault and harassment. Now, it seems that Kang Dynasty is dead, and Doomsday will take its place.

Anthony and Joe Russo, known collectively as the Russo Brothers, will direct Doomsday. The duo previously directed several other MCU films, including Endgame. When teasing the surprise, the brothers commented on the Comic-Con stage that they needed “the greatest actor in the world” for the character, and that Downey Jr. is “the one person” who can play Victor Von Doom.

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Avengers: Doomsday is set to come out in May 2026.

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Anna Iovine is associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on X @annaroseiovine.

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