In one of the most surprising - not to mention divisive - Comic-Con announcements yet, we learned that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom during Marvel Studios' Hall H presentation this past Saturday.
Recent rumors had claimed that RDJ would be playing an evil Variant of Tony Stark, but the actor was introduced as "Victor Von Doom," which obviously suggests that he's been cast as an entirely new character.
We're still no closer to finding out for sure, but scooper MTTSH believes she's uncovered some details relating to Doom's plans for the Multiverse.
Possible spoilers ahead.
"Doom isn’t truly evil; he believes he’s saving the Multiverse from incursions. According to his twisted logic, the only way for the Multiverse to survive is to unify all universes in one place (Battleworld) under his rule. He sees this as the sole path to ensuring survival for everyone."
If accurate, it sounds like Downey will be playing Doom as a sympathetic villain (which he has been depicted as in the comics), and his arc will be at least partially influenced by the 2015 Secret Wars miniseries.
MTTSH has also shared a list of characters she expects to feature in Avengers: Doomsday (it's basically every active MCU hero aside from the Eternals, so... not exactly an Earth-shattering scoop).
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.
Have another look at some photos Downey Jr. shared to Instagram after the big reveal below.