Fans have been eagerly waiting for developments on the next Avengers movie. The new movie is set to be released prior to Avengers: Secret Wars. Now, after many rumors and development changes, it’s been confirmed that the next title will be Avengers: Doomsday. Additionally, actor Robert Downey Jr. will return to the MCU to portray Doctor Doom for the film.
This surprising announcement was made at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Joe and Anthony Russo will return to direct the film following their work on Avengers: Endgame. As such, that marks the return of several major players after Endgame allowed Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo Brothers to move on for some time.
Additionally, the Russo Brothers are also attached to direct the following Avengers movie after Doomsday, Avengers: Secret Wars. What’s interesting about Doomsday, however, is that it doesn’t just bring back Robert Downey Jr. or introduce Doctor Doom to the MCU. It actually brings Downey Jr.’s Marvel career full circle.
He even shared the following on Instagram after the announcement was made:
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Prior to his portrayal of Iron Man in the 2008 movie of the same name that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he nearly got the part of Doctor Doom in 2005’s Fantastic Four. Of course, he didn’t receive the part, and ultimately Fantastic Four didn’t see the same success that the MCU would several years later. Now this no longer matters, as Robert Downey Jr. will finally have his chance to play Doctor Doom, something we almost saw nearly twenty years ago.
Similarly, the Fantastic Four are also making their MCU debut, and it’s been confirmed the superhero team will appear in both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. After Deadpool & Wolverine gave us a glimpse of the X-Men in the MCU, it’s clear that Marvel is finally taking advantage of Disney’s Fox acquisition to further build their massive shared universe.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the production of Avengers: Doomsday as we have them. For now, it’s certainly a surprise to have Robert Downey Jr. return to the MCU – even more so to see that he’ll be playing Doctor Doom. Now that he’s been one of Marvel’s greatest superheroes, however, it’ll be exciting to see him portray one of the brand’s greatest supervillains.