Robert Downey Jr., best known for playing the beloved Iron Man in the first three phases of the MCU, is set to make his return Marvel return but this time as the dreaded Doctor Doom. Downey’s casting came as a shock to many who thought that Downey was done with Marvel.
Recently at the San Diego Comin Con, Marvel’s Kevin Feige announced that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he won’t be reprising his old role as Iron Man. Instead, he’ll be starring in the role of Victor Von Doom aka Doctor Doom, a fierce villain.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Casual Talks With Disney and Marvel Bosses Led To This Casting
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter Podcast, Downey shared some details about how Kevin Feige approached him with the role and why he agreed. He explained that it was a casual conversation with Feige that led to his casting. At first, Downey expressed some concerns about meeting prior expectations but then Disney CEO Bob Iger expressed enthusiasm over the idea.
Downey previously played the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man. Iron Man ends up sacrificing himself to save the planet from Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. Since then Downey has made one reappearance in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Downey continued to collaborate with director Jon Favreau and the Russo Brothers as well. While announcing his return as Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers film, which will be directed by the Russo brothers, he introduced his character by stating, “New Mask. Same Task. Boy, I tell you, I like playing complicated characters.”
Robert Downey Jr Confirms That Dr. Doom Will Not Be A Tony Stark Variant
Robert Downey Jr.’s announcement of his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe left many Marvel fans bewildered and shocked. Everyone is full of questions after this announcement, with many raising a valid concern, “How will the studios justify why Tony Stark and Dr. Doom look identical?”
Many have theorised that the version of Doctor Doom that we will be seeing is an evil version of Tony Stark from an alternate dimension who has gone crazy. However, Downey quickly put these rumours to rest and said that his version of Victor Von Doom is completely separate from Tony Stark.
Interestingly, Downey isn’t the only actor in the MCU who has played more than one role. Josh Brolin has canonically played two Marvel characters. He has played the role of Cable in Fox’s Deadpool and Thanos in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity Wars.
Mahershala Ali who has been roped into playing Blade in the remake of Blade was previously in Marvel’s Luke Cage as crime boss Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. Both Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan have appeared in some iteration of Fox’s Fantastic Four. Evans of course played the role of Captain America while Jordan played Killmonger in 2018’s Black Panther. Other popular actors include Olivia Munn, Gemma Chan, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Favreau, Evan Peters, and Laurence Fishburne. Most importantly the legendary Stan Lee had a cameo in every single Marvel movie up till his death in 2018 at age 95.
