Since we found out that Robert Downey Jr. would be making his return to the MCU as Victor Von Doom for Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday during SDCC last year, fans have been wondering what the Academy Award-winner's take on the classic villain would look like.
We have seen some (supposed) leaked concept art and other depictions (though nothing official) of the character which could give us some idea of how his distinctive costume will look in the movie, but we still don't know for sure what he's going to look like beneath the mask.
A Doomsday banner was spotted as part of the Disney Blockbuster Consumer Products display, but it utilized an older Alex Ross design. However, Film Threat's Chris Gore has reportedly seen something from the sizzle reel that was shown to attendees, and he claims that Doom will have the scarred visage, with a look reminiscent of the "old Universal Monster movies."
Photographer UnBoxPHD has also shared a new shot from the London set, giving us another look at what is believed to be a downed Sentinel. It's still mostly covered by a tarp, unfortunately, but the sole of a large foot is visible.
According to a recent rumor from scooper MTTSH, Doom is not a Stark variant, and simply bears a striking resemblance to the late Avenger. Apparently, the villain will use this to "present himself as an ally to the MCU."
This would appear to back up previous plot rumors that Doom will lead an evil group of Avengers that come from another earth, initially posing as allies to help prevent more incursions. It's also been said that "the entire point of creating these characters that reflect the original line-up, is because they'll be facing off against each other."
Here's what co-director Anthony Russo had to say when asked how Downey Jr. can return to the MCU as a completely new character during a recent interview.
"We can’t explain that as it’s part of the story. But there’s nobody else in the world who could play this character the way he’s about to."
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both films will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
You can check out the full (for now) Doomsday cast list below.
• Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Lewis Pullman as Sentry
• Florence Pugh as Yelena
• Danny Ramirez as Falcon
• Ian McKellen as Magneto
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky
• Winston Duke as M’Baku
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast
• James Marsden as Cyclops
• Channing Tatum as Gambit
• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
• Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
• Letitia Wright as Black Panther
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
• Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
• Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
• David Harbour as Red Guardian
• Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
• Anthony Mackie as Captain America