Robert Downey Jr shocked San Diego Comic-Con in 2024 by revealing – six years after hanging up his Iron Man suit – that he was returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The Oscar-winning actor is set to play Dr Victor von Doom in “Avengers: Doomsday”, due for release on 18 December this year, and in its follow-up, “Avengers: Secret Wars”.
The newly released trailer, which debuted at CinemaCon in April, offers the first look at Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom in his mask, but gives little away as far as answering the question all Marvel fans want to know: how can the man behind the MCU’s most famous character now be playing its greatest villain?
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Why is Robert Downey Jr playing Doctor Doom?
Downey Jr’s surprise return to the MCU caused a multiverse-melting mix of joy and confusion among fans – because he was, of course, the star who kickstarted the multibillion-dollar Marvel franchise back in 2008 with his charismatic interpretation of Tony Stark and his Iron Man alter ego.
After more than 10 years and a string of $50 million (£37 million) paydays, Downey Jr hung up his “Iron Man” suit in 2019. But it has been a “challenge” for Marvel to find a protagonist to replace the large hole left by his retirement, said The Hollywood Reporter. That surely goes a long way to explaining why Downey Jr strode onto that stage in Doctor Doom costume to say, “New mask, same task”.
Who is Doctor Doom?
Dr Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom, is one of the main villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and creator Stan Lee’s “favourite”. An evil but brilliant scientist and sorcerer with a trademark metal mask that hides his scarred face, he is best known as the “eternal nemesis” of the Fantastic Four, said comic book database Comic Vine.
The “tyrannical ruler of the technologically advanced European country known as Latveria,” Doom “believes himself destined” to expand his power over “the rest of Earth, as well as the entire universe”, according to fan encyclopaedia Villains Wiki. Over the years, Doctor Doom has sparred not only with the Fantastic Four, but also Spider-Man, Red Skull, Mephisto and the Avengers.
“He’s not simply a villain – he’s one of the most complex Marvel characters,” director Joe Russo told CinemaCon. “He’s always three moves ahead.”
So how can Downey Jr be Doctor Doom and Iron Man?
Downey Jr’s casting as Doctor Doom is a “huge development in the MCU timeline and has prompted fervent debate around how it will manage the fact he resembles the MCU’s most important hero: Iron Man”, said ScreenRant.
The most likely theory had been that the arch-villain would be played as an “evil Tony Stark variant”, said Forbes. “That’s not just pulled out of thin air” given there is an “actual comic source material precedent for this kind of storyline”. Marvel Comics has featured countless variations on body-swap and alternate reality plotlines, and indeed “there are versions of Doctor Doom in the Marvel multiverse who actually are Tony Stark”, said IGN.
But Downey Jr has publicly dismissed the Stark-variant idea.
That leaves a more obvious workaround for the double casting of Downey Jr: “you’ll never see Doom’s face” behind his mask, said Den of Geek. That the Oscar-winning actor will play Doom with “no Stark-strings attached” is the most “simple explanation”, said Forbes.
It would also be the “laziest” solution, said ScreenRant. “While Marvel had an opportunity to explore this uncanny resemblance in a meaningful way, their casting choices suggest they’re avoiding the issue entirely.”
This also begs the question why Marvel would be willing to pay Downey Jr tens of millions of dollars if you never actually see his face.
“With this kind of price tag on the table, one has to assume that Marvel Studios has a very pointed reason for putting this actor in that role”, said The Wrap. “For this reason, it’s hard to imagine that Downey’s Doctor Doom will be entirely unrelated to his portrayal of Tony Stark – two characters that, though certainly not strangers, don’t have the most significant relationship in Marvel Comics.”
What do we know for sure?
Fans were given their first sight of the arch-villain in the mid-credits scene of last year’s hit “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”. Taking place four years after the events in the film, we saw a cloaked man standing over Franklin Richards, holding an instantly recognisable silver mask in his hand.
But it was not until the full “Avengers: Doomsday” trailer dropped this week that we were treated to our first proper look at Downey Jr in action, telling the Avengers: “Something’s coming. Something we may not be able to deter. Before this day is done, we shall be faced with an unthinkable decision.”
While the trailer gives little of the plot away and does not reveal what Doctor Doom looks like under his mask, it does give us a “clear taste” of his voice, said IGN. More reflective of the character’s eastern European roots, the “most striking” thing is “just how different he sounds from Tony Stark”.
“That may be the entire point here.” That “whatever the real explanation for why Doctor Doom has Tony Stark’s face in the film”, he “may be looking to hide that fact from the Avengers until the inevitable grand reveal finally arrives.”
Who else is joining for “Avengers: Doomsday”?
“It’s almost easier to name an A-lister who isn’t involved, such is the vast length of its call sheet,” said BBC Newsbeat. Alongside Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Fantastic Four, those returning for the next Avengers instalment include MCU stalwarts such as Chris Evans’ Captain America, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. They will be joined by the likes of Florence Pugh, Hayley Atwell and Letitia Wright and from the trailer it seems as though Chris Hemsworth’s Thor is taking a “major role as one of the final OG heroes still on the board”, said Empire.
Perhaps the most excitement is reserved for the return of several figures from the “X-Men” franchise, after Disney’s deal to buy 20th Century Fox finally reunited the different universes under the Marvel banner. These include Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and James Marsden as Cyclops, as well as Channing Tatum repeating his turn as Gambit after the hugely successful “Deadpool & Wolverine”.
