Though more fans do seem to have warmed to the idea at this stage, the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom after playing Tony Stark/Iron Man for so many years was initially met with quite a bit of trepidation.
Stark was killed-off in Avengers: Endgame, and there's a perception that bringing Downey Jr. back - even as a different character - would cheapen Iron Man's sacrifice and emotional send-off.
As it turns out, writer Stephen McFeely felt the same way at first, and has admitted to being somewhat resistant to the idea when directors Joe and Anthony Russo brought it to him prior to him agreeing to come aboard the project.
During last night's world premiere of The Electric State, which McFeely also co-wrote with long-time partner Christopher Markus, the scribe was asked about the challenges of bringing RDJ back as a "completely different character" for Doomsday.
McFeely said he was surprised by the news, but soon set about figuring out a way to approach the story without "betraying what I felt was a very lovely ending for him in Endgame."
It remains to be seen if this version of Doctor Doom will be an evil Stark Multiversal variant or the actual Victor Von Doom who just so happens to resemble the Armored Avenger (honestly, neither option comes without its potential problems).
Plot details are still under wraps, but we do know that Marvel had plans in place for a Kang-focused story in the fifth Avengers movie (FKA Avengers: The Kang Dynasty), but were forced to go back to the drawing board when actor Jonathan Majors was convicted of assault.
"We've always worked very closely with Markus and McFeely through all the work that we've done together," co-director Joe Russo said last year when McFeely joined the writing team. "It's a little bit like getting back on a bike. We have a really codified process that we all work together through. It's very complicated to iron out a story of this scale."
"These are gonna be very, very big movies with a lot of characters in them and a lot of storylines coalescing," added Joe Russo. "We're really happy with how they're coming together right now."
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.