Robert Downey Jr. Returns To The MCU At SDCC Comic Con 2024…As Dr. Doom (?)

Right…San Diego Comic Con 2024 has come to pass and there were a lot of new movies and shows to excite fans. A couple of shows such as Matt Reeves’ The Penguin spinoff show releasing this fall and Star Trek: Section 31 starring Michelle Yeoh coming next year that I want to discuss soon. But I want to talk about the biggest announcement coming out of the MCU panel that left me…quite unsure.

Image via IMDb/Marvel/SDCC Comic-Con 2024/Disney

Robert Downey Jr., who portrayed Tony Stark from the beginning and end of ‘The Infinity Saga’ of MCU films and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is back…as Victor Von Doom aka Doctor Doom. This shocking announcement was also the setting where Anthony and Joe Russo aka the Russo Brothers officially announced their return to direct the two Multiverse Saga cappers; Avengers: Doomsday coming in May 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in May 2027. It’s understandable how the brothers of Arrested Development fame, began their mark on the MCU with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016), were capable of handling the two-part cinematic conclusion of the Infinity Saga: Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame(2019). This is due to the fact that they could not find suitable directors to handle the next Avengers films down the line. But the reintroduction of RDJ as a villain screams of subtle desperation.

Image via IMDb/Marvel/Disney/Comic Basics

I don’t know how they will pull off RDJ as Doctor Doom this late in “The Multiverse Saga” now that Kang is out of the picture. Or…since they are taking inspiration from one of the comics titled Ultimate Comics: Doomsday and a ‘What If?’ story where in another universe Tony Stark turned bad and took on Victor Von Doom’s alias as Doctor Doom, maybe that will probably work (?). They could have just kept the Kang character and recast another black actor to replace Jonathan Majors after his arrest for his assault on his then ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari and went on from there. I guess they might get to a part of their story where Doctor Doom discovers the Kang Dynasty during whatever happens in The Fantastic Four: The First Steps in 2025 and probably end up exterminating them all and becomes the new “big bad” at that moment.

Image via The Movie Database/Marvel/Disney

I don’t know…All I can say is this reeks of desperation and I am only excited for Captain America: Brave New World. And maybe Thunderbolts, Ironheart, and maybe Armor Wars if that’s still a thing. So let’s see how Kevin Feige and Co. are going to wave their magic hands for this. Here is the video of the Marvel panel at last week’s SDCC Comic-Con event.