A few weeks ago at San Diego Comic-Con, we learned that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - but not as Tony Stark. The Academy Award-winner will actually play a completely different character: Doctor Doom.
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'll be playing the iconic bad guy.
We still don't know for sure what the plan is, but Daniel Richtman may have given us a little more to go on.
Possible spoilers ahead.
According to the insider, Doom will come from the same alternate universe as Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If this is accurate and Downey won't be (re)introduced as the villain in the MCU proper, it would indicate that he will indeed be a Stark Variant and not a brand-new character with no ties to the Armored Avenger.
Honestly, this makes a lot more sense than simply casting Downey as a different character (the guy is going to take that mask off at some point), and still leaves the door open for another variant of Doom to debut down the line.
Another scooper, MTTSH, recently shared the following about Doom.
"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."
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.