Robert Downey Jr. has been an instrumental part of the MCU since he headlined the first MCU film, Iron Man. His role as Tony Stark would become his career-defining performance as well as the face of the MCU. Downey Jr’s Iron Man famously sacrificed his life in Avengers: Endgame and fans have been wanting to see the actor return to the MCU in some form or the other.
It was recently announced that the Marvel star will return to the MCU, playing Victor Von Doom/ Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers films. The character’s previous incarnations in the live-action Fantastic Four films have been pretty underwhelming. The beloved character’s current comic arc saw an incredible upgrade and it would be pretty cool to see it being implemented in the MCU’s version.
MCU’s Doctor Doom Should Also Be Sorcerer Supreme Similar to Doctor Strange #18
The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers films sent shockwaves among Marvel fans. Despite the mixed discourse that it started, it did create a great level of excitement for what the studio is planning to do with the iconic villain. Doctor Doom has previously been brought in live-action in the previous two incarnations of Fantastic Four.
Throughout the films, the character is presented as a computer technician and an industrialist who gets in conflict with Marvel’s first family. Fans have not particularly loved the underwritten arc of the supervillain. However, this new incarnation is set to be the big villain Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. The studio is certainly planning something interesting that will justify Downey Jr’s capabilities as an actor.
Doctor Doom recently got a major upgrade in the comic Doctor Strange #18 as he becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme. In Blood Hunt, Doctor Strange traveled to Latveria to seek Doom’s help to stop the vampire invasion. The supervillain agreed to help under one condition which was to pass the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to him, to which Strange reluctantly agreed (ScreenRant).
Additionally, in 1989’s Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom came in neck to neck in a competition to find the new Sorcerer Supreme. At the end of the comic’s narrative, Strange realized that “Doom had what it took to be a Sorcerer Supreme”. Victor has a long history with magic/sorcery as her mother was skilled at it.
Victor has always been fascinated with magic since his childhood and with this new upgrade along with his incredible scientific knowledge, he is simply indestructible. The MCU should incorporate this upgrade for Downey Jr.’s Doom as it will make him incredibly powerful and more complex. The stakes will be high for the Avengers and it will make for an interesting battle as they try to stop a seemingly undefeatable villain.
Robert Downey Jr. Was Originally A Part of Deadpool & Wolverine
Deadpool & Wolverine featured a slew of cameos and surprise extended roles for actors who were a part of the Fox era-Marvel films. However, it also included some actors from the current MCU films that Deadpool meets at the beginning of the film. Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth uses Cable’s time travel device to enter the Sacred Timeline at the beginning of the film.
He meets with Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan and talks to him about joining the Avengers. In an interview with Indiewire, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick revealed that Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark was originally a part of that scene. However, Downey Jr. was already in talks to play Doctor Doom at the time and thus turned down playing Stark again. They said,
We had wanted him to do a cameo. We had written that scene [to start] with Happy and Downey. Ryan Reynolds wrote the scene with both of them, so in the hopes we could get Downey. But he also wanted Favreau, because they’re a great combo, and they were all in the scene together. Behind the scenes, we didn’t know about Doctor Doom. And there’s no way he was going to do both.
It would have been amazing to have gotten to see Tony and Deadpool interacting. Fans would have had some amazing interactions between the two as well as some hilarious gags. Nevertheless, Downey Jr. will be back in a villainous turn in the two Avengers films. It remains to be seen if Deadpool gets to be a part of the two ensemble epics.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will hit theatres on May 1, 2026 and May 7, 2027 respectively.
