SDCC 2024: Avengers: Doomsday Confirms Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom

Robert Downey Jr. has officially made his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but instead of playing Iron Man, he will be portraying the iconic Marvel villain Doctor Doom. The announcement was made Saturday night at the Marvel Studios Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who are also making a return to the Marvel fold. The Russo Bros. will be directing Downey Jr. in the fifth Avengers movie, officially renamed from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday. There also came word that the Russos will be directing not only Avengers: Doomsday but also Avengers: Secret Wars.

The Marvel Studios panel closed out with Kevin Feige and the Russo Bros. being surrounded by several figures dressed as Doctor Doom on stage. Joe Russo stated that they needed “the greatest actor in the world” to play Doctor Doom. As the rest of the Dooms moved aside, one lone figure stepped forward, took off his hood and helmet, with the crowd cheering once they saw it was Robert Downey Jr. 

Is Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom the Infamous Iron Man?

Earlier this month, insider Jeff Sneider revealed that he’d heard Downey could play a multiversal version of Doctor Doom in one of the next two projects.

“Speaking of Doctor Doom, there’s still no word yet about his casting in Fantastic Four, as insiders denied my inquiry about Robert Downey Jr., who I was told might come back as an alternate-universe Tony Stark who becomes Doctor Doom instead of Iron Man,” Sneider wrote in his latest newsletter. “It seems far-fetched, yes, but I figured that if there was any hope of Downey coming back, there’d have to be a new wrinkle for him to play. So, for now, we continue to wait…”

If Robert Downey Jr. is playing an evil version of Tony Stark from the multiverse, it would be similar to how Doctor Doom took on the mantle of the Infamous Iron Man in the comics.

Infamous Iron Man launched as a part of All-New, All-Different Marvel in 2016. From Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, the series follows Victor von Doom as he gets his hand on Stark Tech, turning himself into his own Latverian version of the Invincible Iron Man. Instead of donning the scarlet and gold armor, however, Doom’s take on the technology is a sheer silver, complete with green accents and his iconic green hood.