The biggest moment of San Diego Comic-Con was, undoubtedly, the revelation that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, he won’t be back as the beloved Tony Stark/Iron Man. Instead, in the 2026 film Avengers: Doomsday, RDJ will play the villainous Victor von Doom, better known as Doctor Doom.
The moment when Robert Downey Jr. dramatically revealed himself at Comic-Con by yanking off a Doctor Doom mask has become one of the most exciting and easily one of the most impressive live publicity stunts Marvel has ever pulled off. And yet, outside of the hardcore Marvel fans and Comic-Con attendees, does RDJ playing Doctor Doom make sense to the average viewer? According to RDJ’s Iron Man costar, Gwyneth Paltrow, the answer is... maybe not. Writing on Instagram, Paltrow declared: “I don't get it, are you a baddie now?
While this is likely some playful teasing from Paltrow, her comment does highlight the inherent risk in this gusty casting coup. Outside of the MCU faithful, a lot of people probably feel this way.
When introducing RDJ as the new Doctor Doom, co-director Joe Russo prefaced this twisty reveal by saying: “As proof of the unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multi-universe, we give you the one person who can play Victor von Doom.” This means that as of now, we have to assume that in some parallel dimension, separate from the MCU’s version of Earth-616, Victor von Doom happens to look exactly like Tony Stark. This dot-connecting isn’t too tough for serious comics fans, but will a casual viewer be able to buy the reality of this fictional reveal? Or will they just think that it’s a casting gag gone too far?
The reverse example of this kind of thing is the very recent return of Chris Evans to the MCU in Deadpool & Wolverine. Spoiler alert, Evans does not play Captain America in the new movie, but instead appears as the Human Torch, reprising his role as that superhero from the films Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). It’s not quite fair to call this return a joke, but because of the metafictional layering of Deadpool & Wolverine, there’s certainly a tongue-in-cheek element to it. Plus, in terms of visual canon, Chris Evans did play both Captain America and Human Torch, so it makes sense, even if the motivation is to reference different real-life film franchises, rather than to thoughtfully explore the multiverse.
But RDJ playing the first MCU version of Doctor Doom is different, because he’s never played this character before, and by virtue of what Joe Russo said at Comic-Con, we have to assume this Doom is not from the primary MCU universe. Maybe he’s from Earth-10005, the timeline introduced in Deadpool & Wolverine, or maybe he’s from somewhere else. Maybe the story will reference some relatively obscure comic-book storylines in which Tony Stark and Doctor Doom switch bodies.
The point is, by casting RDJ, the continuity has become the question about the character, perhaps more so than the character himself. We don’t know how much RDJ will show his face as Doctor Doom in Doomsday, but if you’re a 12-year-old child in 2026, and you’ve just watched all the other Avengers movies at home, there’s a real chance you’ll be confused as to why the greatest hero is now a huge villain. This fact alone is very risky, just from a storytelling point of view. Christian Bale did not suddenly play the Joker, and Tobey Maguire didn’t ever play Doc Ock.
Obviously, the Russo Brothers are savvy directors, and the return of Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely is also a good indication that all of this will be handled cleverly. And yet, Marvel has been getting by on cleverness for a long time now. Infinity War and Endgame represented the apotheosis of Marvel’s over-the-top grandeur; a moment when maximalism was tempered with a fair amount of smart plot twists. But, even if nothing about the Infinity Stones made sense to a casual viewer, everyone went along for the ride because those characters — especially Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man — were beloved.
And yet, for the mainstream fan, or the young child, the love was for Iron Man first, and RDJ second. These movies should be about the characters, and less about the people playing them. The RDJ casting surprise for Doomsday is certainly a big deal. But, it remains to be seen which thing we’ll remember more: This moment at Comic-Con, or the movie itself.
