Marvel Studios all the time saves some large surprises for his or her annual Comedian-Con panel, however this 12 months was particularly colossal. After displaying the viewers at Corridor H previews of upcoming movies like “Captain America: Courageous New World,” “Thunderbolts*,” and “The Incredible 4: First Steps,” Kevin Feige shocked followers with the largest announcement the tremendous world noticed at Comedian-Con, pertaining to the upcoming “Avengers” films that can wrap up the Multiverse Saga. 

Not solely will Joe and Anthony Russo return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to direct each “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” however they’re additionally bringing again one of many franchise’s largest stars: Robert Downey Jr. Nonetheless, Downey doubtless will not be showing as his iconic character of Tony Stark, as they’ve as a substitute confirmed that he is been chosen to play the numerous function of Victor von Doom, the purported villain of the Multiverse Saga.

The announcement has been acquired with lots of feelings, from followers’ overjoyed pleasure, to the baffling confusion of MCU skeptics. Contemplating how large of a personality Physician Doom is in Marvel Comics, it is definitely a big gamble from Marvel Studios to place all their chips into the nostalgia basket. This is why we’re involved that this course for the MCU could not work in addition to Marvel will hope it does…

“Avengers: Endgame” was an unprecedented success for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, drawing over $2.7 billion on the field workplace and tying up three phases (over 20 movies) within the film franchise. Nonetheless, it did not take lengthy for Phases 4-6 to get off to a rocky begin, thanks partly to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WGA and SAG strikes in 2023, and a misjudgment on how a lot Marvel audiences had been prepared to take. On high of that, they confronted a serious disaster in 2023 with Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, the supposed subsequent Thanos for The MCU’s Multiverse Saga.

The years since “Endgame” weren’t with out their W’s, with Disney+ exhibits like “WandaVision” and “Loki” uncovering new depths to beloved Marvel characters, whereas movies like “Spider-Man: No Means Residence” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” tugged on the heartstrings of longtime superhero film lovers. Nonetheless, the constant theme throughout these initiatives is inconsistency. “Eternals” scared off followers and critics, whereas “Secret Invasion” felt extra like a waste of time than a stepping stone in Marvel’s subsequent storyline. 

To make issues worse, Jonathan Majors was subsequently fired by Marvel after being discovered responsible of misdemeanor assault, however the firm may’ve truly been relieved to do away with Kang, as one supply informed Variety final 12 months: “It gave individuals pause on condition that ‘[Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania]’ did not precisely land.” Because it stands, the studio’s monitor file isn’t what it as soon as was. 

So far as replacements for Kang go, there is no higher option to pivot to than Victor von Doom. The character is considered among the finest villains in Marvel Comics, and even Stan Lee agreed, telling VOA News in 2007, “The principle motive I like Dr. Doom is as a result of inasmuch as he’s a king, he may come to the US and he may do nearly something and we couldn’t arrest him as a result of he has diplomatic immunity.” In different phrases, because the chief of the fictional Latveria, Doom poses such a singular menace to Marvel heroes.

The character can be an integral a part of the story of “Secret Wars,” utilizing the instability of the multiverse to take godlike management of a brand new world created by him. Doom is very adored by followers as an antagonist to the Incredible 4, being the difficult, egotistic loner to the dysfunctional but loving First Household. 

As a lot as individuals could also be excited to see Doom make it to the massive display, the character holds lots of weight within the Marvel fandom. The Russos had been correct in calling him the most important villain the MCU has needed to introduce, however expectations are excessive for everybody concerned to get it proper. 

One other large motive why followers are justifiably nervous about Marvel Studios taking a swing at Physician Doom is that the character has already been finished twice on the massive display (3 times when you depend Joseph Culp’s portrayal within the unreleased 1994 “Incredible 4” movie). Each instances had been, to place it gently, underwhelming in comparison with what followers wished to see from the character in live-action. 

The primary launched try was in 2005’s “Incredible 4,” with Julian McMahon taking part in Doom, the billionaire rival of Reed Richards whose firm goes underneath because of their failed area mission, whereas discovering his pores and skin slowly mutating into pure metallic, and ultimately donning the moniker “Physician Doom.” Whereas McMahon’s portrayal has garnered reward, the interpretation of the character is simply too centered on his petty grudges in opposition to the Incredible 4, and never sufficient of his tragic, layered backstory. 

The 2015 “Fantastic Four” film bombed at the box office, however for extra causes than its insufficient portrayal of Doom as an anti-social beginner scientist. Because the YouTube channel Nerdstalgic outlined of their video essay, “Why Is It Impossible To Get Doctor Doom Right?,” “Doom and the Incredible 4 are part of a single organism; they must be related thematically and actually.” So as to keep away from the pitfalls of earlier on-screen Dooms, Marvel must pull out one thing totally different with Downey’s portrayal. 

What’s most shocking about Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the timing. Earlier this 12 months, Downey walked away with an Oscar (in addition to a Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG Award, and Critic’s Alternative Award) for finest supporting actor due to Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” The second appeared redemptive for Downey, whose tragic true-life story was stuffed with ups and downs previous to starring in “Iron Man.” 

All through the press tour and awards circuit for “Oppenheimer,” it appeared like Downey was able to put his Marvel previous behind him. On-stage on the BAFTAs, he thanked the movie’s director for convincing him to pursue a extra severe route as an actor, saying he “performed a man named Tony within the MCU for about 12 years … After which lately, that dude Chris Nolan steered I try an understated strategy as a last-ditch effort to maybe resurrect my dwindling credibility” (through Variety). 

It then looks like fairly a 180 for Downey to conform to return in probably the largest function of the franchise since his final one. He has, on many events, expressed satisfaction and gratitude in the direction of his time with Marvel, although maybe the actor merely feels there’s little else to perform after his awards season sweep. 

Certainly one of the best moments in the MCU is Tony Stark’s sacrifice on the finish of “Avengers: Endgame.” After retaking the Infinity Stones, Tony makes use of their overwhelming energy to erase Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his military from existence, killing himself within the course of. The movie ends with a touching funeral the place many Marvel icons collect to say goodbye to the person Captain America (Chris Evans) as soon as accused of being incapable of placing the larger good above himself.

Rumors have circulated for years concerning Downey returning to the MCU, with the actor as lately as this 12 months saying he is open to reprising the function. Nonetheless, followers have been rightfully involved that doing so would undercut the emotional resonance of the character’s farewell. Kevin Feige even confirmed to Vanity Fair that they’d do no such factor, saying of Stark’s loss of life, “We’re going to preserve that second and never contact that second once more … All of us labored very laborious for a few years to get to that, and we might by no means wish to magically undo it in any method.”

And but, we have discovered ourselves within the timeline the place Downey is formally coming again, although whether or not this Doom is a variant of Tony Stark or not is to be decided. On the very least, this makes the MCU a little bit extra just like the comics, the place characters are killed and revived willy-nilly. 

Though there’s lots of pleasure behind the introduction of Physician Doom into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it comes on the detriment of followers of Kang the Conqueror, the villain who had beforehand been set to take the Thanos function within the Multiverse Saga. Jonathan Majors debuted because the character (or reasonably, his “He Who Stays” variant) in “Loki,” and made his large display debut in “Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.” Nonetheless, the substitute of Majors with Downey signifies that Marvel is pivoting from their authentic plans as a result of mess they’ve created.

At first look, Marvel appeared to have the whole lot proper about how Kang the Conqueror should really look in live-action, however they fumbled it by letting the character’s most intimidating variant seen to this point be defeated by Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) of all characters. As IGN wrote of the response to the movie, “[‘Quantumania’] definitely appeared to get individuals excited to see extra Kang, however it doubtless would’ve had extra impression if we knew which Kang we had been imagined to be getting excited for.”

A number of concepts have been thrown out about what Marvel ought to do about Kang, whether or not it is recast Majors or have Doom dispense with the Council of Kangs appear within the “Quantumania” mid-credits scene. Nonetheless, some felt the character’s ending in “Loki” season 2 already show the numerous Kangs to simply be nuisances the TVA will rapidly be coping with off-screen. 

One other angle to the entire Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom controversy speaks to wider points within the leisure business: white-washing. Marvel has their very own historical past of casting white actors to play non-white roles from the comics, most notably Tilda Swinton’s portrayal of the Historical One in “Physician Unusual,” which Kevin Feige has expressed remorse over in recent times. To the corporate’s credit score, they’ve made nice strides in undoing this fame with the previous few initiatives.

Some examples of Marvel’s progress embrace Namor in “Black Panther: Wakanda Ceaselessly,” who’s re-written to have Mayan roots and is performed by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta. One other instance is “Eternals,” wherein the white male characters Makkari and Ajak are performed by feminine POC, Lauren Ridloff and Salma Hayek, respectively. And but, Marvel has determined to re-ignite white-washing accusations by casting Downey as Doom, a personality whose dad and mom are Romani within the comics.

It is a truthful argument that Marvel would need an A-list actor to play this enormous function, and Romani actors are sadly underrepresented in Hollywood. Nonetheless, on condition that Doom has already had two white male portrayals within the MCU, it would not have harm to at the very least pay a little bit tribute to the character’s origins. Hopefully, the movie will at the very least nonetheless acknowledge Doom’s Romani heritage. 

Assuming Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom is not a variant of Tony Stark, many have identified how bizarre it will likely be for the character to bear considerably of a resemblance to essentially the most well-known hero within the MCU. “Deadpool & Wolverine” even acknowledges this by together with Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/Human Torch from the Tim Story “Incredible 4” movies, with Deadpool initially complicated him for Captain America. 

However as The Hollywood Reporter identified following the information of Doom’s casting, Downey may not even want to indicate his face because the character in any respect, both concealing it behind a masks or by means of prosthetics depicting the character’s scars. For the publication, Richard Newby wrote that the familiarity of Downey’s face “runs counter to Doom being a daunting, imposing determine, and I’ve but to see Downey in something the place he is introduced that type of gravitas to the desk.” (It is price noting that Downey did simply win an Oscar for enjoying a villain in “Oppenheimer”)

Nonetheless, it is also been identified that there are comedian ebook iterations of Physician Doom that crosses identities with Iron Man, in a number of “What If…?” alternate storylines that see Stark as Doom and Doom as Iron Man. Downey conserving his face hidden is perhaps sufficient to cover the character’s facial similarity to Stark, however at that time, it is only a waste of 1 charismatic-as-hell film star. 

As beforehand talked about, there are some followers who doubt Robert Downey Jr.’s skill to seize the complexities of Physician Doom on-camera. It is a truthful argument, albeit one which is perhaps knowledgeable by the legacy of his Tony Stark portrayal. Downey himself as rebuffed claims that he is something just like the character, regardless of his off-screen persona, telling Vanity Fair, “There’s all the time a little bit of a burn-off interval after they run out of name sheets for me in any of those films, and I’m going again to being a little bit bit extra of simply…I am only a f–king actor.”

Nonetheless, it was precisely these Stark-esque qualities in Downey that made Christopher Nolan desirous about him for the longer term Oscar-winning function as Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” because the atomic bomb creator’s political rival is the whole lot that Downey is not. It isn’t a stretch to say that Downey has the performing chops to be the proper on-screen Physician Doom, however it may require shocking an viewers anticipating to see a well-recognized efficiency. 

Nonetheless, skeptics stay unconvinced that Downey will have the ability to pull off the difficult function, at the very least till they see it in motion. It should take Downey doing a whole 180 on the actor individuals anticipate him to be, which is able to both be Marvel’s largest accomplishment, or their biggest misfire. 

Whether or not it is Physician Doom, or Kang the Conqueror, and even Galactus, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is heading to a reasonably difficult place given that they are dedicated to doing “Avengers: Secret Wars.” For many who are sick of the multiverse storylines, sadly it is solely going to get extra insane from this level on. “Secret Wars” was initially a comic book sequence within the mid-80s, and revived in 2015, the place an incursion forces two Marvel universes to collide, almost destroying one another, till they’re saved and patched collectively as one managed by God Emperor Doom.

This new world, referred to as “Battleworld,” is perhaps the setting of “Avengers: Secret Wars” following Doom’s actions in “Avengers: Doomsday,” seeing unconventional team-ups of Marvel characters from quite a few multiverses. Whereas this might be thrilling for longtime Marvel Comics followers to see how the MCU brings “Secret Wars” to the big screen, extra informal followers of the superhero franchise may discover it powerful to observe. 

With Downey’s Physician Doom on the heart of all of it, there will certainly be an viewers packed into theaters to observe no matter occurs in these “Avengers” films, however there’s all the time the chance that Robert Downey Jr. will go from the face of the MCU’s glory days to the face of the second they jumped the shark. 

There are lots of advanced arguments for and in opposition to Robert Downey Jr.’s triumphant return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however the easiest one could also be that it simply looks like a determined play from Marvel. Fan reactions already appear to be calling out the dearth of creativity concerned in re-hiring Downey to play some of the highly-anticipated characters within the Marvel universe. And but, the eye, whether or not good or unhealthy, has resulted in additional eyeballs on the MCU than there have been in years. 

All of the elements launched at this 12 months’s Comedian-Con panel appear to point that Marvel is extra involved with taking part in it protected than forging new paths forward. From Downey’s recasting, to Joe and Anthony Russo being again within the administrators’ chairs, and even “Infinity Conflict” and “Endgame” co-writer Stephen McFeely again penning the script for each new “Avengers” films. And but, after authentic concepts like “Eternals” had been acquired with disdain by audiences in comparison with nostalgia-bait like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” who may blame Marvel for cashing in on the glory days?

There are nonetheless loads of upcoming Marvel projects worth getting pumped about, together with Downey’s debut as Doom, however many are sniffing out what may simply be an inexpensive, albeit dangerous, transfer from the corporate to win again their extensive enchantment. 

There might be a lot of opinions concerning Robert Downey Jr.’s casting as Physician Doom from now till he makes his display debut, however one facet that can doubtless go unnoticed is how this case takes care of the previous 12 months’s Author’s Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes in opposition to studios for unfair pay. On the time, Disney CEO Bob Iger put the latter on blast, saying, “There is a degree of expectation that they’ve, that’s simply not real looking. And they’re including to the set of the challenges that this enterprise is already dealing with that’s, fairly frankly, very disruptive” (through Variety).

Apparently, that disruption wasn’t too hurtful, as Disney has agreed to shell out some fairly large bucks for his or her newly-hired “Avengers” inventive group. Whereas the Russos are reportedly taking residence $80 million for directorial duties, Downey is alleged to be paid much more, and that is not even together with potential box-office bonuses. 

That is merely enterprise as normal for Hollywood, however it’s disappointing that Marvel’s VFX crews are unionizing for higher pay and dealing circumstances whereas the mega-talent is strolling away with such cosmic pay. Whereas followers could also be nervous about Downey’s portrayal of Doom, they will by no means be as disrespected by Marvel Studios as that.