Daily News for Marvel Movie

Summary

• Avengers: Doomsday marks Robert Downey Jr.'s return as Doctor Doom in the MCU, not as 616's Tony Stark.
• Marvel's history of resurrecting characters from the dead includes Iron Man, with few remaining permanently dead.
• Concerns about RDJ's return impacting his character's legacy are unfounded, as he will not be reprising Tony Stark.

Robert Downey Jr. will be returning for Avengers: Doomsday despite his most iconic MCU character being dead, which helps to prove one decades-old Marvel rule. This year's San Diego Comic-Con delivered the bombshell revelation that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the MCU as the iconic Marvel villain, Doctor Doom. He will do so in the next Avengers movie, which was also revealed to have been re-titled from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday, with the Russo Brothers returning to the MCU to direct.
The sequence of events has given rise to an explosion of theories and concerns over how the MCU will navigate this new direction. On the one hand, Robert Downey Jr.'s return has sparked accusations that Marvel lacks creative ideas. On the other, his talent and star power cannot be overlooked in the context of an MCU that has recently failed to inspire much enthusiasm (or profit) from brand-new characters now that the Infinity Saga has come to an end. The truth, however, is that RDJ's return is to be entirely expected.
Related Avengers: Doomsday – Release Date, Cast, & Story Details Avengers: Doomsday promises to bring an unprecedented kind of story to the forefront of the MCU, complete with one very important villain.
2 Marvel's #1 Rule Is No One Stays Dead Except Uncle Ben Close Marvel Comics has a reputation for killing off prominent characters only to revive them several issues later. Characters like Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine have racked up more deaths apiece than most before subsequent comics would see them re-joining the ranks of Marvel's most iconic heroes. Iron Man himself has died several times in Marvel Comics, even succumbing to a far more gruesome death in the fight against Thanos in 1991's "Infinity Gauntlet" after being beheaded by Thanos' ally, Terraxia. In fact, the only character that remains dead in Marvel Comics is Spider-Man's Uncle Ben.
Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse delved into the Uncle Ben phenomenon by making his death (or alternate universe equivalents) a canon event.
For Marvel Comics aficionados, the resurrection of a dead character is simply par for the course. Avengers: Endgame even depicted the resurrection of several beloved heroes as Smart Hulk reversed the Blip, meaning the concept isn't even new to the MCU. The fact that it isn't a more prominent feature of the MCU is simply because the cinematic franchise is much younger than the comic franchise on which it is based. Besides, RDJ's MCU return isn't strictly a resurrection.
Robert Downey Jr's Avengers 5 Return Doesn't Ruin Endgame Close Ever since rumors began swirling around RDJ's potential MCU return, the conversation has centered around how this will affect Iron Man's MCU legacy. His death in Avengers: Endgame was, after all, the perfect conclusion to his character arc, and deserved every ounce of the praise it garnered. If it was the case that RDJ would be reprising his role as Earth-616's Tony Stark, then these concerns would be warranted – except it has been made clear that he will not be portraying this character (at least, for now).
Deadpool & Wolverine confirmed that the main MCU timeline, designated Earth-616, is still referred to as the "Sacred timeline," as established in Loki.
The Russo Brothers confirmed that RDJ will be portraying Doctor Doom, giving rise to two possibilities. Either he will be playing Victor Von Doom and following in the footsteps of MCU actors who have portrayed multiple characters, or he will be a Tony Stark variant that descends into villainy in another universe (most likely the same as that of the MCU's Fantastic Four), with his “New mask, same task” proclamation evoking several narrative possibilities for how this might transpire. Either way, he is not portraying a resurrected Tony Stark, who remains dead within the sacred timeline with his legacy intact.
Why Marvel Shouldn't Listen To Criticisms Of RDJ's Return Close Ultimately, the MCU is at liberty to emulate comic book precedents and weave as many mind-bending narrative threads as necessary. While speculation is rife in the wake of the SDCC revelation, there is no way of knowing what Marvel Studios has in mind without further confirmation. The studio will be all too aware of the concerns that RDJ’s return can provoke, making its decision a big one, but one that will have been deeply deliberated. Moreover, this move adds to a litany of risky MCU decisions and is just as likely to succeed.
For his part, Robert Downey Jr. has been sure to stress that his MCU return would have to make sense before he accepted. As a newly minted Oscar winner, RDJ is less likely to take roles for the sake of it, which is a positive sign for his decision to return in Avengers: Doomsday. As for concerns over whether his version of Doctor Doom will not be comic-accurate, only time will tell – and there is plenty of room in the franchise beyond Avengers: Secret Wars to deliver a more faithful take on the character besides.
Avengers 5 Not Yet Rated Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom – played by the returning Robert DOwney Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton Release Date May 1, 2026 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Cast Kathryn Newton , Iman Vellani , Mark Ruffalo , Hailee Steinfield , Anthony Mackie , Benedict Wong , Simu Liu , Benedict Cumberbatch , Dominique Thorne , Xochitl Gomez , Chris Hemsworth , Brie Larson Upcoming MCU Movies
Release Date
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts*
May 2, 2025
The Fantastic Four
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers: Doomsday
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027