Robert Downey Jr.'s return to the MCU has split opinions. Even if the Oscar-winner had signed up to don Iron Man's armour again, fans would have likely had something to say about Marvel Studios undoing Tony Stark's heroic sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, but having him wear Doctor Doom's mask, instead? That's a big swing.
Downey will be front and centre as the Multiverse Saga's new big bad in Avengers: Doomsday, and according to The Cosmic Circus, Victor Von Doom will be the "main character or 'hero,'" similar to how Josh Brolin's Thanos was Avengers: Infinity War's protagonist.
The site also reveals that, along with Captain America's Avengers, the New Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and "Team Loki," Doom will also have his own group (previously rumoured to be a Multiversal Masters of Evil).
Thanos wanted to collect the Infinity Stones, but what does Victor want? "He sees the incursions that are happening as a danger to the Multiverse, and he wants to put a stop to it using a young Franklin Richards," the site explains. "He sees himself as the hero in this story and will do whatever it takes to make sure he stays on top."
To drive home the dire state the Multiverse is in, it's said that we'll visit an Earth that's been completely decimated by an incursion, helping the movie's true heroes better understand what's at stake.
Interestingly, even with Loki's intervention at the end of his series, "the Multiverse is still on the brink of collapse, and there's only a handful of viable Earths left."
We'll also get to see a "neat place" from Marvel Animation's What If...? in live-action for the first time, and one character who supposedly won't be by Doom's side is Secret Wars comic book standout Molecule Man. We have good reason to believe Franklin Richards or Loki will take his place in this story, though.
Avengers: Doomsday stars 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, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, and Lewis Pullman all make the Avengers franchise debuts in the movie.
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, and Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum.
The Russo Brothers direct the movie from a script by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Captain America and Avengers franchises.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.