Marvel Studios had some big news to share this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con: Robert Downey Jr, the actor that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man, will be returning to the MCU but not as Iron Man. Instead, he will play Doctor Doom, the central threat of Avengers 5 – or as it’s now officially titled, Avengers: Doomsday. While many celebrated the actor’s return, others are somewhat divided on the news.
Marvel Studios announced at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend that Avengers: Doomsday will release on 1 May 2026 while Avengers: Secret Wars has a release date of 7 May 2027. Both movies will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, who previously directed Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War as well as Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame in the MCU. The panel closed off with Robert Downey Jr being unmasked as the new Doctor Doom.
As you can imagine, there’s been a lot of chatter online about this unexpected casting decision. On one hand, this is quite exciting as it could potentially explore the implications of the multiverse and how a familiar face can become someone else entirely in a different timeline. That said, Downey Jr isn’t simply playing a Tony Stark that’s been corrupted into becoming Doctor Doom in another timeline – he’s Victor Von Doom, as the Russo brothers introduced him.
Under a recent IGN article talking about the mixed reception to the casting, fans left some interesting comments discussing the news. “Glad they’re going with Doom for the next big villain, but not sold on the casting of RDJ. It could be just what the MCU needs or it could be the thing that really turns people away,” said one commenter. Another commented, “As of now, it sorta just feels like Marvel has run out of big name actors who are willing to be in this parade of diminishing returns.”
This is referring to the inconsistent quality of MCU movies over the past five years which have yielded mixed results when it came to box office performance and critical reception – something that, during Phase 1-3, the MCU never really had an issue with, for the most part. There has arguably been more misses than hits for Marvel Studios since Endgame. Hopefully with the rejuvenated interest in the universe thanks to Deadpool and Wolverine and now this announcement, things might finally get back on track.
