Robert Downey Jr. announced his return to the MCU as Doctor Doom of the upcoming ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ at the recent San Diego Comic-Con. He later shared the moment he took off the Doom mask, and revealed himself to the crowd on Instagram.
His ‘Iron Man’ co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow, commented under the video:
“I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?”
Downey’s Iron Man made his first appearance in 2008’s ‘Iron Man.’ The actor last played the hero in 2019’s ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
Iron Man Actor’s Reveal
Marvel also welcomed Anthony and Joe Russo back to direct ‘Doomsday’ and its follow-up, ‘Secret Wars.’ Joe introduced Downey’s reveal at the Comic-Con last weekend by saying:
“One of the more complex characters in all of comics, and potentially one of the more entertaining characters in all of fiction. I think we’re going to need the greatest actor in the world to play that character. As proof of the unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multi-universe, we give you the one person who can play Victor von Doom.”
Downey added after coming out among a bunch of people dressed as Doombots:
“New mask, same task. What can I say, I like playing complicated characters.”
Replacing Another Villain
‘Doomsday’ will see release on May 1, 2026, as the third installment of Phase 6 in the MCU. Stephen McFeely, who previously worked on ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame,’ will join the team to write the script.
The fifth ‘Avengers’ movie was initially titled ‘The Kang Dynasty’ and intended to focus on Kang the Conqueror. But following Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence charges in 2023, Marvel changed the plans.
Doctor Doom will now likely become the main villain in the story. He was central to the ‘Secret Wars’ comics, which are the inspiration for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.
