In a surprise twist sure to send shockwaves through the Marvel fandom, Robert Downey Jr. is making his long-awaited return to the MCU – but not in the role that made him a household name. As confirmed by Marvel Studio president Kevin Feige and Avengers directors the Russo Brothers at San Diego Comic-Con, Downey Jr. will take on the iconic villainous mantle of Doctor Doom in upcoming Avengers films.
Fans bid a bittersweet farewell to Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man in 2019’s record-shattering Avengers: Endgame, which concluded over a decade of the actor leading the MCU. His memorable final scene, sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos, left a stark impact on viewers. But this new casting opens the door for Tony to potentially live on in alternate realities within the ever-expanding multiverse.
According to Feige and the Russo Brothers, a deleted scene from Endgame featured Katherine Langford in a poignant younger version of Tony’s daughter Morgan Stark. Set in the soul realm after Tony’s death, it directly paralleled Gamora’s scene with young Thanos in Infinity War. “We had many emotional goodbyes and wanted to maintain the film’s momentum,” said Joe Russo of the cutting room decision.
With Downey Jr. now returning as Doctor Doom, longtime fans speculate this could allow the tender deleted scene to eventually come to fruition. Langford herself commented that whatever worked best for the film was what mattered most. Now the stage seems set for her to join the MCU as well, possibly as an adult Morgan Stark facing her father as a foe, or as Valeria Von Doom encountering a variant of her universe’s Tony.
Downey Jr. will first menace audiences as the villainous Doctor Doom in the highly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters in 2026, with a follow-up appearance in Avengers: Secret Wars to follow in 2027. As the MCU plunges deeper into multiversal storytelling, fans can’t wait to see how these surprise casting choices impact the on-screen relationships and complex narrative in explosive fashion.
