This link between Iron Man and Dr. Doom makes Robert Downey Jr the perfect casting

Robert Downey Jr. has shocked fans by announcing a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the 59 year-old will be starring as Doctor Doom in the new 2026 Avengers film, Avengers: Doomsday, as announced at Comic-Con on Saturday night.

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“New mask, same task.” Robert Downey Jr. surprises Hall H to announce his return to the MCU as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, in theaters May 2026. SDCC RobertDowneyJr DoctorDoom

♬ original sound – Marvel Entertainment – Marvel Entertainment

Stepping forward from a line of identical masked figures on stage, Downey Jr pulled off his silver mask in a dramatic unveiling. As you can hear, the crowd were absolutely ecstatic.

“New mask, same task,” he triumphantly declared after his new role as Doctor Doom was revealed.

via Albert L. Ortega/Shutterstock

Iron Man and Dr. Doom’s interesting link

If you’ve spent hours rifling through years of deep Marvel lore, you’d know that the link between Iron Man and Dr. Doom dates back to the eighties. Iron Man and Dr. Doom had a notorious rivalry, which appeared in a 1981 storyline called Doomquest, where both Tony Stark and Victor von Doom are taken back in time to King Arthur’s court. Dr. Doom attempts to create an alliance with Morgan le Fay, but they’re no match against Iron Man and King Arthur’s knights. The storyline is a bit rogue, but it sends a clear message that these two characters are on very different sides.

Doom and Iron Man had another big clash in 2007’s Mighty Avengers, which is set after the Civil War crossover and Tony Stark’s promotion to Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Iron Man leads the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. in an all-out invasion of Doom’s kingdom of Latveria. Though Doom wasn’t didn’t really play a part in the attack, he ends up in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

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Basically, as one of the only people clever enough to rival Dr. Doom himself, Tony Stark constantly finds himself red underlined on his hit list. That’s a lot of information to digest.

Why is Robert Downey Jr. coming back to Marvel as Dr. Doom?

RDJ is of course no stranger to the MCU, and first appeared as Iron Man in 2008. He starred as the iconic character for 10 films including Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, the second and sixth highest grossing film of all time.

In an interview with Esquire in April, RDJ said he would “happily” return to Marvel: “It’s too integral a part of my DNA.”

Fans assumed that if he ever did return, he would reprise his role as the billionaire playboy genius Tony Stark – who died in 2019’sAvengers: Endgame. Despite this, it wouldn’t have been out of the question for RDJ to return as the MCU is currently playing around with the concept of time, and characters like Loki, who previously died, are still featuring in the universe.

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Director Joe Russo said at Comic-Con: “If we’re going to bring Victor Von Doom to the screen — he is one of the more complex characters in all of comics … this is potentially one of the more entertaining characters in all of fiction.”

He added: “If we’re going to do this … then we are going to need the greatest actor in the world.” Who better than the king of Marvel, RDJ?

The director seems pretty confident about his choice of casting: “As proof of the unimaginable possibilities of the Marvel Universe, we give you the one person who could play Victor von Doom…”

It’s an exciting moment for the MCU’s most well-known actor to completely switch sides, and play a powerful villain. Let’s hope RDJ can bring it (we know he can).

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