“New mask, same task.” Avengers: Doomsday. In theaters May 2026.
The MCU has just cast its Doctor Doom for the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday, and it's...wait, Robert Downey Jr.?
At San Diego Comic-Con during the Marvel Studios panel, it was announced that Downey Jr. would be returning to the MCU not as Iron Man, but as Doctor Doom in Avengers 5, which is now known as Avengers: Doomsday. Downey Jr. made an appearance at the end of the panel flanked by Doom Bots, saying he'd "see you in two years" with Doomsday. The film is slated for May of 2026.
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Unfortunately, no one left the hall with a clear idea of how this is going to work. Is he somehow playing Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, who died (like really super died!) fighting Thanos in Avengers: Endgame? Is he a different guy who looks exactly like Tony Stark? Is he from one of the many many alternate earths? Who can say?
This is all Downey Jr. had to say about it: "New mask, same task. What can I tell ya? I like playing complicated characters.”
Weird as this may seem, the MCU has plenty of room for this sort of lookalike nonsense, so whatever's going on with this casting is almost certainly going to have a plot explanation beyond just wanting Downey Jr. around again.
At the same panel, we also learned that the Russo Brothers would be returning to the MCU to direct both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which is coming a year later in May of 2027.
Previously, Avengers 5 was expected to be called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and focus on, well, Kang. There have since been rumors that Marvel would be pivoting from a Kang-centric phase to one focused on Dr. Doom, and it appears those rumors were true.
Are you excited to see Robert Downey Jr. return and become as Dr. Doom? Should they have cast someone new?
