Although the majority of fans now seem to be on board, the initial announcement that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the MCU as an entirely different character after playing Tony Stark for so many years was met with a mixed response.
We still don't know exactly how this new big-screen take on the classic villain will be depicted in Avengers: Doomsday, but rumor has it that Downey Jr. is playing the Victor Von Doom, and not an evil Stark variant.
Why does he look so much like the late Armored Avenger? Apparently, his resemblance to the fallen hero won't actually come into play - at least, not in this movie.
While speaking to CBR, Downey confirmed that they are doing "something different" with the character.
"A lot of it has been… there's some experimentation," said the Oppenheimer star. "We've had our moments of, 'Let's shift here.' But we landed in a place that I think will more than suffice. And it's not even about how I executed it. It's about the way it's been structured, and the other characters."
Expectations are high for Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, especially after the massive success and popularity of The Russo Bros.' previous MCU movies and what many consider to be a largely disappointing run of Multiverse Saga films.
"There's something going on in Doomsday and forward that is literally the only antidote to, 'How do you not have these films be let down after an Infinity War and an Endgame?' And boy, have we labored long and hard to bring that down," RDJ went on.
"I'm quite odd in that I try to stay as removed from a subjective experience of things as I can," he explained. "So I try to think like the brothers. I try to feel like I'm in the writing room. I try to feel all that stuff. But eventually, there are so many big shoes to step into that I just have to go, 'What hasn't been done as well as it can be done yet?' We're always looking for that opportunity."
Co-director Joe Russo also addressed fans' expectations, revealing that Doomsday will have a "lot of surprises," while describing the next major MCU event as "the most mature" of all of the Russos' Marvel movies.
"The stakes keep going up. But, emotional complexity is always the answer," Russo said. "You bring emotional complexity to anything, and it enriches it. It makes it a fuller experience for the audience. It surprises you. There are a lot of surprises in this. And I think [Doomsday is] the most emotionally complex of all of them. And in a lot of ways, the most mature of all of them.”
Russo also expressed his excitement to collaborate with Downey again.
“We've been very fortunate enough as collaborators, Robert and I, to be able to do this over and over again. And, knock on wood, we can do it two more times.”
We assume he means Doomsday and Secret Wars, but there's speculation that the filmmaker is hinting at a couple of post-Secret Wars projects here.
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.
"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.
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.