Robert Downey Jr. Electrified Comic-Con, but Will He Energize the Marvel Universe?

Doom is coming for the MCU. Kevin Feige dropped the news that the Russo Bros. are returning to the Marvel fold to direct Avengers 5 and 6 at the end of a relatively calm Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday. This announcement wasn’t shocking given the previous week’s news that the duo was in talks to direct the films and have a hand in Marvel Studios from now on.

What was surprising is that the film formerly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, has been reworked and retitled Avengers: Doomsday, leaving no question that Marvel’s greatest villain, the man who inspired Darth Vader himself, Doctor Doom, will finally make his long-anticipated debut in the MCU. Before fans could even process that news, the Russo Bros. came back with an even bigger announcement. And the reaction from fans was…well, let’s call it mixed. Robert Downey Jr. is making his return to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, but not as Tony Stark. This time he’ll be putting on a different suit of armor as Doctor Doom.

There’s no question that Downey is a great actor, and his return to the MCU as Doom certainly had Hall H excited. But I can’t help but feel this decision is a disappointing and boring one. Downey was the face of the MCU for a decade as Iron Man, and he got one of the greatest sendoffs a superhero has ever received on screen in Avengers: Endgame (2019), along with a moving epilogue in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

Now he’s back as, at least a version of, Marvel’s greatest villain. The Russos introduced him as Victor von Doom, potentially squashing any notion that this Doom is a Tony Stark variant. But if he’s not, then what’s the point of casting the same actor who played Iron Man? In the comics, Doom is horrifically scarred underneath his mask (though he is healed in both comic iterations of Secret Wars, released in 1984 and 2015). If the idea here is to simply allow Downey to play with his character actor skills and be completely unrecognizable facially and vocally, then it makes a little more sense, although there are plenty of other actors up to the challenge. But given the importance of Downey’s face, both as a movie star and as Tony Stark, is Marvel going to skip out on that bankability with general audiences, even if the alternative feels more creatively fulfilling?

So, let’s say we end up with a Doctor Doom who looks nearly identical to Stark so that all the Avengers can gasp and point and say “Tony Stark?” for some easy emotional beats, is that really the impact the first iteration of Doom in the MCU should have? Or is it an unnecessary mea culpa for Phase 4 and 5 not meeting the expectations of fans and giving them the familiar presence of Downey back as an olive branch?

While the reception to Phase 4 and 5 of the MCU has been mixed with audiences, it felt essential to step away from Stark and to allow not only other characters, but other actors to take the spotlight. The argument could be made that none have had quite the hold or charisma as Downey as Iron Man or Chris Evans as Captain America. I’d counter-argue that the MCU has spent so much time introducing new characters, most of whom they haven’t revisited, that the studio hasn’t done a great job of establishing new leads for audiences to invest in.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) proved to be a successful introduction to a new hero of great importance to the MCU, but Shang-Chi’s (Simu Liu) sequel has shown little public movement, and it is unclear if it will happen before or after Avengers: Secret Wars. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) accepted the role of Captain America in 2021’s Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but isn’t making his film debut until 2025, a year before Avengers: Doomsday. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who was set to be the linchpin of The Multiverse Saga hasn’t been seen since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse where he went off to the Dark Dimension with Clea (Charlize Theron) to explore the threat of incursions, which were the essential building block of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s Secret Wars (2015).

It would seem like a third Doctor Strange sequel, given the incursions and Strange’s relationship with Doom in the comics, should be prioritized over Secret Wars. There are several factors why these films have been delayed and plans drastically altered, including the pandemic, the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman, the strikes, and the arrest and conviction of Jonathan Majors, who was to topline Kang Dynasty. But despite those factors, it seems the next two Avengers films could’ve been pushed back with other films to fill their spot, and give audiences more chances to get to know and grow to love these new characters. And the Multiverse Saga’s initial big bad, Kang, could’ve easily been recast after Majors’ termination, given the ample amount of Black talent who could’ve made a meal out of the role. Instead, the MCU has chosen to jump to Doom without even creating a space for a new actor to make his mark.

As some fans online have theorized, Downey’s Doom has only been confirmed for two movies, and if Avengers: Secret Wars results in a soft reset of the MCU, as it did for the comics, there’s the potential for another Doom later down the line.

Still, that seems like a big “what if?” What impact would a new Doom have on audiences who already saw him in what are sure to be two of the biggest movies of all time? How much enthusiasm will there be in seeing the Fantastic Four fight Doctor Doom, when they will assuredly first face off against Downey’s variant version in Doomsday and Secret Wars? Then there’s also the factor that any actor to take on a new version of Doom in the aftermath of Secret Wars will assuredly be doing so in the shadow of Downey, regardless of how comic-accurate that depiction may or may not be. And of course, Downey will be taking on Doom in the shadow of his portrayal of Iron Man, and Doom should never reside in another man’s shadow. And no, Victor von Doom’s brief 12-issue stint as the Infamous Iron Man, a storyline by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev in which the villain tried to redeem himself as Iron Man following Tony Stark’s death, doesn’t change that, nor does it make sense in the context of Doom as the new big bad.

None of this is to say that Doomsday or Secret Wars will be bad movies because of Downey playing Doom. Nor am I suggesting he’ll turn in a bad performance, though I do think his acting style, engaging as it is, runs counter to the mainline comic book approach to Victor von Doom. But I can’t help but feel like this is a play at getting MCU fans to stop saying the franchise’s best days are behind them by bringing back an actor they associated with the MCU for a decade.

Considering all of the talent out there that has never been in an MCU film, and the fact that Doom is even worthy of leading a solo trilogy all of his own (and could’ve even appeared in Fantastic Four sequels, before getting to Secret Wars) makes the whole decision feel hasty and cheap, but in the most expensive way possible. No, I don’t think any of this is a reason to be doom and gloom about the future of the MCU, as there are a lot of exciting projects in the works, but it is a reason to pause and consider how the seemingly unlimited potential of the MCU that began with Downey in Iron Man might be limiting itself with his casting as Doctor Doom.