In a promo video for Avengers: Doomsday (there's no new footage, unfortunately), Robert Downey Jr. has announced that a new voice actor has been enlisted to play his character, Doctor Doom, in the Japanese dub of the MCU event movie, and he will likely be very familiar to anime fans.
Toshiyuki Morikawa, who has played the likes of Sephiroth in Final Fantasy, Griffith in Berserk, Enel in One Piece, and Minato and Kimimaro in Naruto, will provide the voice of the iconic villain in the first part of Marvel Studios' Multiverse Saga finale.
Keiji Fujiwara, who tragically passed away after a battle with cancer in 2020, played Tony Stark/Iron Man in 11 previous Japanese MCU releases.
You can hear a brief tease of Morikawa-san's Doom voice below.
The MCU may not be the massive money-printing franchise it once was, but a movie like Doomsday was always going to be a huge hit, and Box Office Theory believes that the first part of Marvel Studios' Multiverse Saga finale could "challenge the biggest global opening weekends in box-office history."
Doomsday's ticket sales in major European markets have reportedly outperformed Avengers: Endgame during comparable early sales periods in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.
A $1B opening weekend in the current climate may seem unlikely, but it would be foolish to discount the possibility completely.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were hit with significant delays last year, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies 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.
"Universes collide and the Multiverse Saga begins its final chapter in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday. Beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and ultimately face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered. This epic film will lay the foundation for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."
Doomsday will star:
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, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Along with 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, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.