On Saturday evening, Robert Downey Jr. made a surprise appearance in the Marvel panel at San Diego Comic-Con to reveal his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as supervillain Doctor Doom. The announcement was, to put it nicely, controversial. Some fans are here for this twist while others think it’s a cheap ploy. Doctor Doom is a popular villain who first appeared in the Fantastic Four comic books. He was Reed Richards’ archenemy and eventually appeared as the villian in other comics in the Marvel Universe. In the comics, there is a multiverse version of Doctor Doom who is Tony Stark. That Tony variant is from Earth-11029 and he was tricked by Doctor Doom to switch minds, meaning Doom’s mind is in Tony’s body while Tony’s mind (with his memory erased) is in Doom’s body. Multiverses are fun!
If you’re still confused, don’t worry. RDJ’s casting has confused a lot of people in general. One of those people is none other than Gwyneth Paltrow, who played Tony’s wife, Pepper Potts, in the Avengers movies, which take place on Earth-616. (Earth-616 is known as the “sacred timeline.”) Gwyenth commented on RDJ’s post about returning to the MCU, expressing her confusion, writing, “I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?”
Gwyneth Paltrow, 51, reacted to the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to Marvel to play the villain Doctor Doom in the next two “Avengers” movies — 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday” and 2027’s “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
Paltrow played Pepper Potts, the love interest of Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, in several MCU movies.
Since Iron Man was killed in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Paltrow was understandably confused by the news of Downey Jr.’s return to the superhero franchise.
“I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?” Paltrow wrote in the comments section of Downey Jr.’s Instagram post about his comeback.
Downey Jr., 59, surprised fans at Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday to reveal he’s playing Doctor Doom in the next two “Avengers” films. Both movies will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who helmed four MCU films already including 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and 2019’s “Endgame.”
The Oscar winner coyly walked out onto the stage in an olive-green robe with dozens of others wearing Doctor Doom’s iconic metal mask. He dramatically pulled it off and revealed his face to wild cheers.
He announced his return on Instagram as well, with the caption, “New mask, same task.”
For more than a decade, Downey Jr. starred as Iron Man before the character was killed off saving the universe in the latest “Avengers” movie.
Other OG Marvel actors reacted to the news of Downey Jr.’s return, including Mark Ruffalo a k a Bruce Banner/the Hulk.
“Hey Brat, green suits you,” Ruffalo wrote on Downey Jr.’s Instagram, referencing Charli XCX’s green-themed album “Brat.” Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, commented a series of clapping emojis on another one of Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom-related Instagrams. Jeremy Renner, who plays Clint Barton/Hawkeye, reacted to the news on an Instagram post shared by the Russo brothers. “Congrats gentlemen!!! We’ve missed you,” he wrote.
Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova, was shocked when she was told about the news during an interview with Variety at Comic-Con.
“I bet it went insane in there,” she said.
It’s been over five years since Downey Jr. and Paltrow were in a Marvel movie. While Downey Jr.’s return has been confirmed, Paltrow has been less interested in playing Pepper again.
“It would be very hard for me to do any acting right at the moment, just because of my job,” the Goop CEO said to Entertainment Tonight last year. “But, I guess Robert Downey Jr. could probably always get me back. You know, to some degree.”
LMAO. Gwenyth has been honest in the past that when it comes to her role in the Marvel movies, she basically shows up, learns her lines, has some fun with her friends, and collects a paycheck. She openly admits that she hasn’t watched many of the movies and can’t even be bothered to remember her own costars. She even forgot that she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming! I don’t expect Gwenyth to give two craps to actually learn about the concept of the multiverse, but I wonder if now that she knows it’s on the table, she’d consider learning some lines and collecting another paycheck to play a different variant of Pepper. There’s plenty to choose from. It’s also a bonus for her that if she’s not playing Earth-616 Pepper again, she won’t even have to remember any of the plots of the movies that she’s already been in.
Photos credit: ICMK/Backgrid, Getty, Aldo Verretti/startraksphoto.com
I am not a fan of the multiverse. I don’t want to have to watch 10 movies and 5 Disney + series to understand a convoluted plot. But I am not a comic book fan. So, no disrespect to those that are deeply invested in them.
And I assume, if RDJ character is mostly in a mask. This will just be more voice work for him vs. in front of the camera. Talk about an easy paycheck for him. Goop is probably just mad there is no in for her to get one.
Calling it now : this variant of Pepper Potts has died and that’s why Tony has turned evil.
Isn’t he evil bc it’s Dr. Doom’s mind in Tony Stark’s body?
that’s what I read on a wiki fan site. Dr. Doom erased (variant) Tony Stark’s brain / mind and took over his body.
I’m sure a fan can explain it more elegantly than me 🙂
The MCU hasn’t been always following the comics so they’ll probably think that people will expect them to follow the mind-swapping storyline and decide to change it. It could be a Tony from a parallel universe and the fact that RDJ said “different mask, same task” kind of make me believe that Pepper is going to die and Tony becomes evil because he wants to protect his children. Age of Ultron was completely different from the comics for example and Ultron ended up being created because Tony wanted to avoid the plot from The Avengers happening all over again.
From your mouth to Russo’s ears.
I was also mystified by Robert Downey Jr cast a Dr Doom because I wondered if we’re all supposed to pretend like he doesn’t look like Tony Stark. Thanks for breaking it down because nothing I read was very clear. I am actually kind of intrigued now that I know this was in the comics.
Remember in Endgame when Tony makes the comment about messing with time to the point it eventually messes back? I suspect this is a multiverse Tony.
Which would have happened because Captain America went back in time and stayed there. Which he wasn’t supposed to do. So, he could live out his life with Peggy Carter. Blame Cap for messing with the time continuum lol.
I’m sure RDJ will be great in the role but honestly this just feels gimmicky. Marvel knows they’re losing viewers and it feels like they thought, “What if we bring back our most popular actor?” rather than come up with a new plan about how they tell stories.
I would wait in line on the first day to see a Florence Pugh/Yelena movie.
Same! She’s the best character!
I would be in that line with you. Yelena is absolutely hilarious
Dammit Gwyneth, you’ve finally voiced an opinion that I agree with!
Controversial opinion, but I really enjoyed her as Pepper Potts. It’s her finest work on film since Shakespeare in Love, IMO.
Don’t care. Still whitewashing. Doom is a Romani man. Not a white man. This is racism, period.