The majority of fans seemingly remain undecided on the news that Robert Downey Jr. will play Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
It's a bold decision on Marvel Studios' part and the hope is that Downey really is playing Victor Von Doom and not just a Tony Stark Variant who breaks bad and becomes Doctor Doom. Only time will tell on that front but we'd imagine there will be a link of some sort between the two characters.
Today, the talented 21XFOUR has shared their take on Downey as Victor and Doom. We can't imagine the villain will be scar-free when we first meet him, though that may change if and when he acquires the power to rewrite reality and create Battleworld.
Downey looks great as both sides of the villain here and, seeing as seven years will have passed since Avengers: Endgame's release when we sit down to watch Doomsday, it might not be all that difficult to accept the Oscar-winner as a different MCU character.
After all, Chris Evans has now played the Human Torch and Captain America in the MCU. While one of those was admittedly a cameo, a seven-year gap between Downey's farewell to Iron Man and his debut as Doctor Doom feels like enough time to make this acceptable.
What do you think about this fan-made take on Doctor Doom?
"You’re the best damn fans in the world, and we’ve missed you," the Russo Brothers said after announcing their MCU return. "When we made Avengers: Endgame we truly believed that it was the end of the road for us in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We had put all the passion, love and imagination that we had into the Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and then culminated it all with Endgame."
"All within a few years. We had spent everything we had creatively, and we left all our emotions on the floor. But in the time since, we began to feel that there was perhaps one story where we could find a new narrative path forward. It’s the reason we fell in love with comic books in the first place. That story is Secret Wars."
We cannot express how excited we are to dive back into this world, and explore such a deliciously complex character like Victor Von Doom," the filmmakers concluded. "And there is no better friend or collaborator to do that with, [than] THE great [Robert Downey Jr.]."
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released in theaters in May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars following the next year.