In a surprise turn of events, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — this time to play Doctor Doom. The Iron Man star, who officially retired from the MCU with his character’s death in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, will play Victor von Doom, a.k.a. Dr. Doom in the next Avengers film — now officially titled Avengers: Doomsday — which is set for release in May 2026.
In addition, rumors that Shawn Levy would be directing Avengers 5 were squashed, as the Russo Brothers were officially confirmed as the directors for both Doomsday as well as the fifth Avengers movie, Secret Wars (now set to premiere in May 2027).
Originally, the fourth Avengers movie was announced as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty — a title pointing to the involvement of villainous multiverse-travelling Kang, played by Jonathan Majors. Then, in December 2023, Majors was convicted of domestic assault, and Marvel fired him from the franchise.
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Since Majors’ firing, the studio had yet to confirm whether a new actor would be cast as Kang, or if the franchise-wide story being told would go in a new direction. Saturday’s bombshell news confirmed the latter approach, with both the change in title as well as the reveal of Downey Jr.’s new MCU role.
For months, rumors have circulated that Marvel was interested in bringing Downey Jr. back into the fold — rumors seemingly debunked by MCU head Kevin Feige in December 2023, when he said that “we would never want to magically” resurrect… Tony Stark. Turns out that was a statement that did not rule out casting Downey Jr. as a different character.
In the Marvel universe, Doctor Victor von Doom is a primary antagonist of the Fantastic Four — a brilliant scientific mind as well as the leader of a small Eastern European country, the character was played by Julian McMahon in the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four movies, and Toby Kebbell in 2015’s Fantastic Four.
Unconfirmed is if Downey Jr. might make his debut as Victor von Doom in the first official Fantastic Four movie, which Marvel also announced Saturday would be titled The Fantastic Four: First Steps. That seems unlikely, though, as it was previously announced that Marvel’s First Family would be taking on Ralph Ineson as Galactus in the July 2025 film.
In a 2016 comic entitled “Infamous Iron Man,” Doom did rebrand as Iron Man for a period of time. While Marvel could take a similar route, especially through the use of the multiverse, Russos made a point of introducing Downey Jr. as “Victor von Doom.” So, at least for now, it would seem Downey Jr. is playing an entirely new character.
Elsewhere in the multiverse, Marvel’s currently having a good weekend at the box office with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine — which also features plenty of familiar faces via a wild series of cameos. Revisit Robert Downey Jr.’s original appearances in the MCU on Disney+ — the Iron Man trilogy is also available on VOD via Apple TV and Prime Video.
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