Robert Downey Jr. explains how Kevin Feige convinced him to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom.
Downey said Tuesday that he and the Marvel Studios boss had a conversation last year about Downey possibly returning to the MCU despite the “Avengers: End Game” death of his previous character, Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man.
“He said, ‘I keep thinking about what happens to me if you come back,’” Downey told the Hollywood Reporter. “‘How do we not go backwards? How do we not disappoint expectations? How do we continue to exceed expectations?’… And he mentioned Victor Von Doom. I looked at this character. Later, he said, ‘Let’s make Victor Von Doom work.’”
Doom is one of Marvel's most formidable villains and will play a crucial role in the next phase of Avengers films and the MCU as a whole. In Marvel comics, he is the Fantastic Four's main adversary.
Downey had initially requested a meeting with Disney's Bob Iger to discuss his contribution to the company's parks and location-based entertainment. The “Iron Man” actor's involvement in the theme park expansions was announced earlier this month at Disney's D23 convention, where the 59-year-old actor was revealed as part of the cast of two new attractions at Disneyland's California Adventure park.
Iger, who was already aware of Downey's concept for Doctor Doom, had expressed his approval and quickly arranged for the actor and Feige to visit Disney's Imagineering campus in Glendale to see the projects in progress.
“You want to talk about two guys who are hard to impress, let alone at the same time,” Downey told THR. “What's going on there? [in Imagineering] “At this point it far exceeds my expectations of what was possible.”
Downey was revealed as Doom at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. Feige returned to the iconic Hall H on July 28 to promote Marvel Studios' upcoming projects, bringing exclusive footage and more. The presentation showcased 2025 releases including “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts,” “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and a pair of “Avengers” movies. During the event, a group of men dressed as Doom walked onstage and one of them removed his mask to reveal Downey.
“New mask. Same job,” Downey told the audience. “I have to say, I enjoy playing complex characters.”
