Russo Brothers Talk AVENGERS Return And Doctor Doom Plans; DOOMSDAY Seemingly Adds Another MCU Actor/Composer

Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars directors the Russo Brothers have talked more about their MCU return and casting Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. We also have news on a likely composer...

By JoshWilding - Jul 29, 2024 05:07 AM EST

Filed Under: Avengers: Secret Wars

At this weekend's San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios welcomed Joe and Anthony Russo back to the MCU by announcing them as the new directors of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Shortly after that memorable Hall H panel concluded, the Russo Brothers described Secret Wars as "the book that made us fall in love with comics." Now, they shared a lengthier statement about their return and the decision to cast Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.

You’re the best damn fans in the world, and we’ve missed you.

When we made Avengers: Endgame we truly believed that it was the end of the road for us in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We had put all the passion, love and imagination that we had into the Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and then culminated it all with Endgame. All within a few years. We had spent everything we had creatively, and we left all our emotions on the floor. But in the time since, we began to feel that there was perhaps one story where we could find a new narrative path forward. It’s the reason we fell in love with comic books in the first place. That story is Secret Wars.

We cannot express how excited we are to dive back into this world, and explore such a deliciously complex character like Victor Von Doom. And there is no better friend or collaborator to do that with, [than] THE great [Robert Downey Jr.].

Marvel fam, let’s do this...

The response to Downey playing Doom hasn't been the home run Marvel Studios likely expected. In fact, it wouldn't be unfair to call it a mixed reaction, largely because there's so much confusion about whether he's Doom or a Tony Stark Variant masquerading as the villain!

You can see the Russos' Instagram post below (and then keep scrolling for more Avengers news).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Russo Brothers (@therussobrothers)

Stephen McFeely has been announced as the writer of both Doomsday and Secret Wars, confirming Marvel Studios has moved on from Michael Waldron and Jeff Loveness.

Alan Silvestri composed the scores for Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Now, many fans are convinced he's confirmed his involvement with the upcoming Multiverse Saga Avengers movies.

Jeremy Renner also made a point of sharing the logos for both movies on his Instagram Stories; that presumably means recent reports about him returning as Hawkeye for those were correct.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alan Silvestri (@alan.silvestri_music)

Avengers: Doomsday will be released in May 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars set to follow in May 2027.

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Star Robert Downey Jr. Teases Doctor Doom Debut With New Photos: New Mask, Same Task

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51 Comments

1 2

Urubrodi - 7/29/2024, 5:45 AM

I hope he is a Victor Von Doom that happens to look like the Tony Stark from Earth-616. But I know that by saying that I'll be called crazy and accused of coping by some people around here.

bkmeijer1 - 7/29/2024, 5:59 AM

@Urubrodi - not the first time two seperate characters were played by the same character. I don't mind at all. Moreover, I think it's genius.

And what's there to cope even? It is what it is. They're going with it, so we just have to accept it.

Urubrodi - 7/29/2024, 6:15 AM

@bkmeijer1 - No idea man, but McMurdo for example thinks it's obvious he is gonna be a Tony variant and that is even stupid to discuss other alternatives. But yeah, I actually really like the possibility of him just being Victor. Similar to how you have Evans being Cap and Human Torch (of course in a much larger scale). RDJ is one of the best actors of his genration and just showed in Oppenheimer that he can be a great antagonist. Looking forward.

YouCray04 - 7/29/2024, 6:44 AM

@Urubrodi - 100% agree. He will most likely be heavily scarred/disfigured. Also considering the fact that Doom rarely takes off his mask because of his scars, they could easily pull off RDJ as the real Victor Von Doom and not a Stark variant.

bkmeijer1 - 7/29/2024, 6:54 AM

@Urubrodi - I don't know where everybody is getting it from he's a Stark variant when the Russos even announced him as Victor von Doom. I think it's great casting.

Marvel is getting a lot of cakes and eat them too. RDJ is back, Iron Man's legacy is untainted, they get Doom, they get an "oh shit, trouble" reaction to Doom, no build-up needed, and we get Secret Wars in all its glory.

ProfessorWhy - 7/29/2024, 5:46 AM

I can't be negative about this. The f ucking clouds are parting

ProfessorWhy - 7/29/2024, 5:48 AM

@ProfessorWhy - and like they've done earlier, I believe that the end will redeem the means to get there to the same degree that Love & Thunder undid the journey of Ragnarok

MadThanos - 7/29/2024, 5:49 AM

Finally Michael Waldron is gone!

bkmeijer1 - 7/29/2024, 5:56 AM

How is there confusing which Doom he us playing, the Russos introduced him as Victor von Doom.

But yeah, I think RDJ is a great choice. There's no build-up needed with this casting, as it immediately has that "oh shit, we're in trouble now" factor to it.

Doomsday8888 - 7/29/2024, 5:56 AM

Toecutter - 7/29/2024, 7:37 AM

@Doomsday8888 - I agree. What bothers me the most is that they brought back the wrong actor for a dual role. Mads Mikkelsen was right there.

ObserverIO - 7/29/2024, 7:45 AM

@Doomsday8888 - This is exactly the reaction that a casting as powerful as this SHOULD illicit.

Just wait till the Avengers see him.

UniqNo - 7/29/2024, 5:57 AM

I wonder if post endgame we're going to be getting more variant world movies rather than sticking with the 616?

F4 is it's own thing, Deadpool's universe seems to be thriving - for now (i wonder if that's where Monica is).

It would be cool though if we just follow one timeline again though after the saga is done. I want Xmen to be in the same world as the other characters! that's what i was hoping for after the merger.

UniqNo - 7/29/2024, 6:01 AM

@UniqNo - Also, Giacchino is always good! still listening to his stuff from Lost and Star Trek every now and again.

bkmeijer1 - 7/29/2024, 6:58 AM

@UniqNo - I think a few universes are gonna bite the dust in incursions, with those heroes (Deadpool, FF) being placed in the Sacred Timeline. Amd that's the universe Marvel Studios will play around in afterwards.

The X-Men though will probably not survive though, and the next batch of mutants will be native to the MCU. Secret Wars could even function as a sort of M-Day.

ObserverIO - 7/29/2024, 7:49 AM

@UniqNo - If that's where Monica is then that means FOX-Men is the Earth next door. Which means that's probably the Earth that The Sacred Timeline would have an incursion with.

You know what that means right?

DrReedRichards - 7/29/2024, 5:58 AM

Not gonna lie, I kiiiiinda hoped for Silvestri to score the F4 as well, but Giacchino has yet to let me down this far so I can't really complain.

Also, just McFeely? No Chris Markus?

TheVisionary25 - 7/29/2024, 6:04 AM

@DrReedRichards - if it’s anything like his Star Trek score , I’m in!!.

?si=61anyfN-FUXwZCSc

That was weird , maybe they have broken up?.

theprophet - 7/29/2024, 7:43 AM

@DrReedRichards - from what I've read, Markus is dealing with some personal issues

theprophet - 7/29/2024, 7:43 AM

Dealing**

ObserverIO - 7/29/2024, 7:51 AM

@theprophet - maybe he'll be back in time for Secret Wars.

DrReedRichards - 7/29/2024, 7:52 AM

@theprophet -

Damn, that sucks... Thanks for the heads-up.

ObserverIO - 7/29/2024, 7:53 AM

@DrReedRichards - Silvestri would've been cool and it would have made the Doom trilogy flow better (TFF, Doomsday and Secret Wars).

But I love that they got the composer of the Incredibles 1&2 for Fantastic Four.

DrReedRichards - 7/29/2024, 8:01 AM

@ObserverIO -

Yeah, my boy @GaruVonDoom had the same thought about Giacchino's history with The Incredibles. I'm with you guys, it just feels right.

YouFlopped - 7/29/2024, 6:00 AM

“Cash in and cash out (cash in and cash out)
I am not lookin' for clout (nah)
I knew I would figure it out (I knew)
I took the millionaire route (run it up)
Popped a pill got my head in the cloud (huh)
Say my name, it'll bring out a crowd (crowd)
We got paid, now my family proud (on God)
I been drippin' this drip since a child“- Kevin Feige

Spoken - 7/29/2024, 7:09 AM

@YouFlopped - 21 Savage even knew it would make $200 million. He’s disappointed in bitches you 🤡🤡🤡

YouFlopped - 7/29/2024, 8:06 AM

@Spoken - a movie than barley made 20 m more than two films that came out two years ago

With less hype and promo….

I know standards are low but…

not every film is gonna be the Oscar nominated multi quadrant hit like WF and BP so i get it.

But hey, if that’s all marvels Jesus could do was make 20 mil more than congrats! 🎉🎈🎊🍾

SuperiorHeckler - 7/29/2024, 6:02 AM

They loved the original SECRET WARS but unfortunately, I doubt The Beyonder will be involved. Even Jonathan Hickman's remake involved the Beyonder race but, if I were to make a wild guess, I imagine that Doom will be stealing ultimate power from an entirely different source. 🤨

bkmeijer1 - 7/29/2024, 7:00 AM

@SuperiorHeckler - I wouldn't be surprised if the Beyonder will still be in Doomsday, but as a second player.

I think they can still wrap up the whole Kang business with making the Beyonder a Kang variant that ascended to Beyonder status. Doom could then steal his power and create Battleworld.

AC1 - 7/29/2024, 6:08 AM

There aren't exactly any set rules as to what a Variant even is.

Some of them have the same name and similar backstories but look completely different (e.g. the 3 Peter Parkers)

Some look the same and have similar backstories that diverge at some point (e.g. various Doctor Strange, Wanda, Deadpool, Wolverine variants)

And it also seems some characters who look the same but have completely different backstories, personalities and even names from different universes could also be classed as variants - although it's a more complicated grey area (e.g. Captain America and Fox Human Torch #1, Killmonger and Fox Human Torch #2, etc)

But yeah, the fact they've called him "Victor Von Doom" numerous times already seems to suggest he's not a straightforward Tony Stark variant who has the same backstory up to a certain point but then decides to call himself Dr Doom; it seems to me that it's more like the third option I outlined above, where he's his universe's Victor Von Doom who happens to look like MCU-616's Tony Stark.

That's not to say I don't think there'll be ANY ties to Iron Man. My theory is that the choice to bring RDJ back has ties to fairly recent comics - Tony became more villainous in Superior Iron Man and we've already had hints at something like that on Earth 838 in DSMOM; in the comics Dr Doom briefly became the Infamous Iron Man, creating even more of a connection and blurring the lines between the two characters; and in at least one alternate universe/future in the comics Tony becomes Sorcerer Supreme, while in the main 616 universe in the comics Doom is considered one of the world's best Sorcerers even rivaling the most frequent Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange.

So my theory is that this Victor Von Doom is going to have traits of Infamous Iron Man, Superior Iron Man, Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark, and modern Secret Wars Doctor Doom; a character who has mastered both technology and magic, possibly even originally being from Earth 838 and the missing member of their Illuminati who has gone to even more extreme measures following the rest of his team's deaths at the hands of the Scarlet Witch and seeing firsthand the chaos that can be unleashed via the existence of the Multiverse, probably wanting to protect his home-universe by destroying all the others (and maybe cherry picking some bits and pieces from across the Multiverse to bring back to his own universe while he's at it)

TheVisionary25 - 7/29/2024, 6:12 AM

@AC1 - interesting , that could be cool

Ultimately while it may be naive of me , I hope it’s more then just a cynical business decision and knowing the Russo’s and Feige , I think it’s partly creative too and an opportunity in their minds for a potentially interesting narrative

TheMetaMan - 7/29/2024, 6:28 AM

@AC1 - For the love of god he’s not playing a stark variant it’s just doom. MCU doom bears no relation to tony stark. Two completely different characters. Downey Junior is an actor playing two different roles. Jesus how hard is that to understand? It’s not rocket science. Many actors have played different roles and different characters in the same shared universe. It’s a thing. Like Chris Evans who’s reprised the role of playing Johnny Storm in Deadpool 3. Feige said Downey will never return to play Ironman. They are preserving his death. Dr Doom is a new chapter in the acting career of of Downey. That’s why they brought him back silly. 🤦🏿‍♂️ They brought him back so that he can sell the next avengers movie to the wider audience as its tentpole villain. Simple. Nothing more, nothing less

AC1 - 7/29/2024, 6:50 AM

@TheMetaMan - I was responding to the article speculating that he's playing a Stark variant when the Russo's have already called him "Victor Von Doom" multiple times. Not sure why you're so worked up over that but might I suggest going outside, getting some fresh air, touching some grass, maybe getting some ice cream, and giving someone a hug.

bkmeijer1 - 7/29/2024, 7:03 AM

@AC1 - I like the idea a lot he's the sixth member of the Illuminati from 838. Not only would he have a personal vendetta against the 616, but he has someone to blame as well when Incursions start happening all around him

Toecutter - 7/29/2024, 7:30 AM

@AC1 - Technically, they already did the evil Iron Man counterpart with Ultron, so I hope they don't do that again.

TheVisionary25 - 7/29/2024, 7:36 AM

@Toecutter - kinda , I get what you mean

I honestly hope he’s nothing like Tony Stark and has a completely different characterization

RDJ has the range to do that

Toecutter - 7/29/2024, 7:44 AM

@TheVisionary25 - I can see this working if they go full-on scarred Doom, who is unrecognizable and never removes the mask. But then again, that would defeat the purpose of casting RDJ in the 1st place, so I am confused and need clarification here. But I guess we wait and see now.

TheVisionary25 - 7/29/2024, 7:59 AM

@Toecutter - yeah

I feel he will be scarred to an extent but whether it’s full on or even the little scar some iterations have which show his vanity further , that is indeed wait and see

TheVisionary25 - 7/29/2024, 6:10 AM

I’m still somewhat mixed on it honestly but moreso in terms of what this means for the future beyond Secret Wars and not these 2 films which have potential with RDJ being Doom.

Also while I do think it’s a new challenge for the Avengers of not only facing a man that looks like one of their fallen own but The Hero that saved the universe and how that could emotionally affect some of the characters , I do still hope we still get some good interaction between Reed and Victor even if they aren’t from the same universe…

If the FF are already established in their world , perhaps Reed has history with Victor already and vice versa plus seeing Pedro & RDJ go against each other could be real electric!!.

Still bummed about them just pivoting from Kang though apparently since I was perhaps one of the only few that wanted to see the conclusion of that but oh well.

TK420 - 7/29/2024, 6:41 AM

Hey, why not bring Evans back to play Reed Richards and ScarJo back to play Sue? Nothing matters anyway...

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Russo Brothers Talk AVENGERS Return And Doctor Doom Plans; DOOMSDAY Seemingly Adds Another MCU Actor/Composer

Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars directors the Russo Brothers have talked more about their MCU return and casting Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. We also have news on a likely composer...

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Star Robert Downey Jr. Teases Doctor Doom Debut With New Photos: "New Mask, Same Task"

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY & AVENGERS: SECRET WARS Find Directors As Robert Downey Jr. Returns To MCU As Doctor Doom!