Heading into Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the hope among fans is that the Russo Brothers will adapt one of the most iconic moments from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's 2015 Secret Wars comic book. We are, of course, referring to the death of Thanos.
Confronted by the Mad Titan, God Emperor Doctor Doom tears out the villain's spinal cord, reducing him to little more than a skeleton and some ashes. Whether we'll get that in the MCU will be determined over the next couple of years, but Robert Downey Jr. has some thoughts on which of them is the biggest threat.
CBR was at last night's SXSW screening of Avengers: Infinity War with the Russo Brothers when Downey dropped in to surprise fans. Introducing himself to fans, he said, "Hi, I used to play Tony [Stark] and then you lost me right after this one," referencing Tony Stark's Avengers: Endgame death.
When Joe Russo asked Downey about who is more powerful out of Doom and Thanos, he responded with a definitive, "Doctor Doom." Given that Victor Von Doom has mastery over science and magic, the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four should be worried.
Later, the actor explained what Marvel Studios, the Russos, and he are hoping to achieve with the upcoming Avengers movies.
"We can't beat it, we can't stand on the shoulders of these giants of Infinity War and Endgame, so we're literally zeroing out the board, and we're gonna try to earn your trust and respect all over again, and with the likes of these fellows, I think we got a pretty good shot," the Oscar-winner told fans.
Downey appears to be referencing the tepid response to much of the Multiverse Saga. Unsurprisingly, it seems the goal with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars is to win audiences over and bring the MCU back to the heights of the Infinity Saga.
Whether they can achieve that is hard to say, but Kevin Feige is clearly banking on the Russos and Downey to recapture the same critical and commercial acclaim as their previous collaborations.
In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.
Avengers: Doomsday stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, India Rose Hemsworth, and Wesley Holloway all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
The Russo Brothers direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. The movie is produced by Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Jonathan Schwartz, with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18.