Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. bid farewell to the MCU and Tony Stark in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. However, he'll return to the franchise as the villainous Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
The casting has divided opinions and raised concerns that Victor Von Doom will be an Iron Man Variant. We'll have to wait and see on that, and rumours are already swirling about which reality the new Multiverse Saga's big bad hails from.
Today, scooper Daniel Richtman brings word that Marvel Studios is currently discussing having Downey continue playing Doom after Avengers: Secret Wars is released at the end of 2027.
We'd imagine the success of The Fantastic Four: First Steps has something to do with that, as it makes perfect sense for Marvel's First Family to share the screen with Doom after his quest to "save" the Multiverse fails. Whether Downey wishes to stick around remains to be seen, but Victor deserves to be more than just a one-off big bad.
Other updates from the insider include the news that an actor has been cast as the MCU's Ghost Rider (the Spirit of Vengeance has previously been rumoured to appear in Avengers: Doomsday), and plans for Blade to start shooting next year.
"We had started even before what had happened to the actor [Jonathan Majors] happened, we had started to realize that Kang wasn’t big enough, wasn’t Thanos, and that there was only one character that could be that, because he was that in the comics for decades and decades," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently revealed. "Because of the Fox acquisition, we finally had it, and it was Doctor Doom."
"So we had started talking about Dr. Doom even before we officially pivoted from Kang. And in fact, I had started talking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious idea before Ant-Man 3 even came out," the executive continued. "It was a long plan that we had, to take one of our greatest characters and utilize one of our greatest actors."
Yesterday marked a year to the day since Downey was announced as the MCU's Doctor Doom. The Russo Brothers took to Instagram to share a throwback video of that momentous occasion, which you can watch below.
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.