Summary
Robert Downey Jr. will be returning forAvengers: Doomsdaydespite his most iconicMCUcharacter being dead, which helps to prove one decades-old Marvel rule.This year’s San Diego Comic-Condelivered the bombshell revelation thatRobert Downey Jr. will be returning to the MCUas the iconic Marvel villain, Doctor Doom. He will do so in the next Avengers movie, which was also revealed to have been re-titled fromAvengers: The Kang DynastytoAvengers: 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 anMCU that has recently failedto 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.
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.
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 ofMarvel’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’sSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Versedelved 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: Endgameeven 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
Ever since rumors began swirling around RDJ’s potential MCU return, the conversation has centered around how this will affectIron Man’s MCU legacy. His death inAvengers: Endgamewas, 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 & Wolverineconfirmed that the main MCU timeline, designated Earth-616, is still referred to as the “Sacred timeline,” as established inLoki.
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 ofMCU 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
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 toa litany of risky MCU decisionsand 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 inAvengers: 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 beyondAvengers: Secret Warsto deliver a more faithful take on the character besides.
