Whether you like it or not, Robert Downey Jr. is the new Doctor Doom of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans are giving us a look at what we’ll see in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
Iron Man and the Search for the New Thanos
In 2019, Marvel Studios did the practically unthinkable and killed off Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, the superhero that Robert Downey Jr. had played since the very first MCU movie in 2008. The epic film concluded the Infinity Saga, which had seen the formation and dissolution of the Avengers, Captain America (Chris Evans) finally getting his long-awaited dance, and Paul Rudd coining the immortal “that’s America’s ass.”
Avengers: Endgame also saw the departure of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Josh Brolin, four of the most significant figures in the MCU. Since then, the studio has struggled to find both a replacement hero for Iron Man and one for the Mad Titan.
Related: Disney Releases Touching Eulogy for Late Marvel Legend
The attempt to position Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), as the most powerful hero in the MCU and the next tentpole character didn’t work out, at least partially due to a sexist backlash against her character but also a lot because of the colossal box office flop of The Marvels (2023).
In a strangely parallel development, the introduction of Kang the Conqueror and his many Variants (all portrayed by Jonathan Majors) was derailed somewhat by the underwhelming reception of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), but much more because of the actor’s arrest for harassment and assault of a former partner.
Jonathan Majors’ quick dismissal left Marvel in a very tricky spot. The fifth Avengers movie had already been announced as The Kang Dynasty, making the actor who played the title character a pretty big deal. But in the absence of a compelling central hero and an intimidating enough cosmic villain, Kevin Feige decided to pull a surprise move and kill two birds with one stone, in a sense.
Victor Von Doom, Meet Tony Stark
At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, Hall H exploded with cheers when it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr. would portray Victor Von Doom in the upcoming fifth Avengers movie, Doomsday, and in Secret Wars. Both films will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (known collectively as the Russo Brothers), who would be paid a colossal $80 million plus bonuses.
RDJ himself is reported to be earning even more than the directors, which has kicked off its own backlash alongside that of Marvel Comics fans who don’t think he’s the right choice for Doctor Doom, accusations that casting a non-Romani actor in the role is blatant whitewashing and that bringing Downey Jr. essentially rendered the loss of Iron Man in Endgame emotionally moot.
Related: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Has Been Rebooted After All
Regardless, Doctor Doom is happening, and Instagram artist spdrmnkyxxiii has produced high-quality fan art of the former Iron Man as the Latverian villain.
The image’s caption reads, “New Mask, Same Task. DOOMSDAY. Does it make sense? No. Am I excited? F*** YES! I’m probably just riding the high that was the SDCC Marvel Panel. Felt like the old days with all the reveals. The Doom one in specific felt a lot like in Hall H. We’ll see how they explain it. I hope there is a multiversal explanation as opposed to just a ‘RDJ is just playing a different role'”
Robert Downey Jr. is depicted as Doctor Doom, clean-shaven compared to his usual highly manicured beard and with glowing green eyes. Notably, this version of Doctor Doom is not wearing a face mask on his armor, which is one of the character’s most iconic aspects.
That does bring up the debate that is currently raging in the MCU fandom of exactly how Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers are going to bring back RDJ as a new character.
Trending theories include the idea that this Doctor Doom is a version of Iron Man who goes full villain, that he may be a Multiverse Variant of Tony Stark that is pulled into the Sacred Timeline to serve as a new Anchor Being or even some combination of all of that and good old-fashioned body-switcheroo stuff.
Regardless of what it actually turns out to be, we’ll have to wait until Doomsday to see exactly what the official MCU Victor Von Doom will look like. But this seems like a pretty good start.
What do you think Doctor Doom should look like in the MCU?