So…that happened. As I noted recently in my review of Deadpool & Wolverine, the MCU hasn’t been hitting the right notes recently, which made San Diego Comic-Con all the more interesting, as Marvel and Kevin Feige had to find a way to “course correct” in a way that would get fans excited and point things in the right direction. However, whether they accomplished that or not is debatable. At SDCC’s legendary Hall H, Feige took the stage to reveal that instead of the “Kang Dynasty,” they were going to do Avengers Doomsday, which would then lead to Secret Wars.
That would be fine, per se, except that the other bombshell was that in those two Avengers movies, Doctor Doom will be played…by Robert Downey Jr. For proof of this, he showed up at SDCC in a Doom-style costume…much to the joy of fans:
“New mask, same task.”
Robert Downey Jr. surprises Hall H to announce his return to the MCU as Doctor Doom. pic.twitter.com/j1SEjzse3p
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 28, 2024
So, why is this problematic? Simply put, the MCU, in its first three phases, revolved around Tony Stark/RDJ. They even changed classic Marvel lore to fit this theme, such as Iron Man being the one to “find” Spider-Man or being the one who helped make Ultron instead of Hank Pym (who hadn’t been introduced at the time). Without Iron Man and the “focus” of the Infinity Saga, the MCU fell apart in various ways, and that’s why some might see this as a true “emergency brake” situation. They bring back Robert Downey Jr. to “fix” what was wrong with it.
Except, that raises several big problems, including that RDJ will apparently only be in Avengers Doomsday and Secret Wars, which means he’s not the Doctor Doom that will eventually face off against the Fantastic Four, who have been confirmed to be in both movies. Furthermore, once these movies are done, the same problem exists that they have to continue without him, as he’ll have to be dealt with in the Secret Wars finale.
Plus, this adds yet another “multiversal shenanigans” situation that fans are already annoyed with. So, yes, for now, many are happy about RDJ’s return, as well as the return of the Russo Brothers directing the two films. But, will it last? We’ll have to wait and see.
