Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame Encore.
Avengers: Doomsdayand Avengers: Secret Warsare shaping up, in many ways, to be a massive shift in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Doomsday is assembling two different generations of Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and a collection of X-Men, marking the first time all three superhero teams have appeared in a movie. If that mighty Marvel mashup wasn’t enough of a draw, directors Joe and Anthony Russo, alongside Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, have hinted that Secret Wars could potentially serve as a fresh start for the MCU. The biggest shift, though, lies with the character at the center of Doomsday and Secret Wars.
That character is none other than Doctor Doom, portrayed by MCU veteran Robert Downey Jr. Doom has taken center stage throughout Doomsday’s marketing, with a trio of posters focusing on the metal-clad monarch and a special trailer revealing more of his history with the Fantastic Four. Many fans have questioned whether Downey’s take on Doom will be as complex and menacing as the character in the comics, especially since he hasn’t had as much buildup as previous MCU villains. Judging from what’s been shown in trailers and the extra scenes added to Avengers: Endgame Encore, it looks like the Russos might succeed in that regard.
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Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Couldn’t Be More Different from Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer.Image via Marvel Studios
When Robert Downey Jr. unveiled himself as Doctor Doom during Marvel Studios’ San Diego Comic-Con presentation in 2024, the reaction was very mixed. Some felt that Marvel made the right pivot following Jonathan Majors‘ ousting as Kang the Conqueror. Others felt that bringing Downey and the Russos back was essentially an attempt to win back lapsed audiences, especially following a downturn in Marvel’s theatrical efforts. The recent trailers for Doomsday show that Downey isn’t returning for a nostalgia play, but is making Doom as compelling a character as he did with Iron Man. Whether he’s staring forlornly at a picture of someone who might be his late mother or talking about taking back “stolen lives” from the Avengers, Doomsday aims to keep audiences engaged with Doom.
Downey’s performance as Doom isn’t the first time that he’s played an antagonist in the MCU. That honor goes to Captain America: Civil War, which saw Iron Man and Captain America coming to blows. Even though Tony Stark was an antagonist, audiences still saw the emotions that drove his decisions, and Anthony Russo recently revealed in an interview on Marvel’s official website that the same impulse drives Downey’s performance as Doom.
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“It was a very scary idea to a lot of people that we would sort of put that character in a position of being considered the bad guy. But Robert is brave. He likes to be surprised, he likes to be pushed into difficult places. It was a very similar process thinking about [him] playing Victor Von Doom.”
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Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which MCU Villain Do You Align With? Killmonger · Namor · Zemo · Thanos
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you do about something unfair, how long you will wait for what you want, who you are really loyal to, how easily you let a thing go. Answer them and we will tell you which one of these four you have more in common with than you would like. Every one of them thinks they are the reasonable person in the room.
🐆Killmonger(Black Panther)
🔱Namor(Wakanda Forever)
🎭Zemo(Civil War)
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🧤Thanos(Infinity War)
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01
How do you react to something you think is unfair? All four of these men started here.
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02
How long will you wait for something you want? Patience separates these four more than anything else.
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03
Who are you actually loyal to? Answer for the real one, not the polite one.
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04
How do you win an argument? Everybody has one method and uses it every time.
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05
How easily do you let something go? This is the question that makes villains out of people.
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06
What do you think about breaking the rules? Nobody on this list has ever felt guilty about it.
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07
What do people say about you behind your back? You already know which one it is.
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08
What would you do with real power? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your villain.
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The Case Is Made You Align With…
Four villains, and four arguments the films were honest enough to
actually let them make. Here is the one you lean towards, the part of it that holds up, and the
exact point where it stops holding up.
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Black Panther · Marvel Studios · 2018
Erik Killmonger
You align with the one who was right about the problem and wrong
about the solution. Killmonger is the most persuasive villain Marvel has produced because
the film never pretends his anger came from nowhere.
You notice who was abandoned and you cannot let it go, which is a moral instinct before
it is anything else.
His argument lands because Wakanda really did watch and do nothing, and the film makes
T’Challa admit it out loud.
Where it breaks is the method, since a man who was failed by power decided the answer
was to hold more of it.
Michael B. Jordan plays him as somebody performing certainty over grief, which is why
the last scene of that film still works.
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Wakanda Forever · Marvel Studios · 2022
Namor
You align with the protector, which is the most understandable
and most dangerous position on this list. Namor is not chasing power or revenge, he is doing
whatever keeps his people hidden, and he has been doing it for centuries.
Your loyalty has a hard border around it, and everything inside that border matters far
more to you than anything outside it.
Talokan is the best realised world Marvel has built since Wakanda, and the film makes
you understand exactly what he is guarding.
His logic is airtight right up until it requires somebody else’s people to pay for his
people’s safety.
He would rather be feared by the surface world forever than trust it once, and history
has given him reasons.
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Captain America: Civil War · 2016
Helmut Zemo
You align with the patient one, the only man on this list with no
powers, no army and no hurry. Zemo lost his family in Sokovia and then spent years working
out that you do not fight the Avengers, you introduce them to each other’s secrets.
You go quiet when you are hurt, and the quiet is where the thinking happens.
Zemo is the only MCU villain who completely won, and he did it with a notebook, a plan
and a great deal of self control.
His grief is real, and the film is careful never to let you forget that he started as an
ordinary man with a family.
Where it fails is the cost, since taking apart the people who hurt him meant hurting a
great many people who did not.
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Avengers: Infinity War · 2018
Thanos
You align with the one who decided the answer was arithmetic.
Thanos is not angry and not grieving in any way he will admit to, he simply reached a
conclusion and never once revisited it, which is precisely what makes him frightening.
You are capable of holding a position that costs you everything, and you would call that
conviction rather than stubbornness.
Infinity War works because it is structured as his film, with a goal, a journey and a
sacrifice, and the heroes are the obstacle.
The flaw in the plan is not the cruelty, it is that he never seriously considered a
single alternative to it.
Josh Brolin plays him tired rather than triumphant, which is the choice that turned a
purple giant into a real character.
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‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ Gives Fans a First Look at Doctor Doom’s Plans
Fans got their first glimpse of Avengers: Doomsday and Doctor Doom’s goals during screenings of Avengers: Endgame Encore. In addition to the original cut of Avengers: Endgame, Encore features four different scenes that set the stage for Doomsday. One of these scenes directly connects Endgame to Doomsday, as Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) have their romantic reunion interrupted by Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Another confirms that Earth-10005, where the X-Men reside, is the sole survivor of countless incursions. However, the biggest scene involves none other than Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).
After the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Banner works in an underground bunkeron a serum meant to suppress the Hulk. Doom interrupts his work, saying he’s here to “collect” Banner; Banner starts transforming into the Hulk, and the camera cuts out shortly afterward. This scene serves as a dark mirror to Ruffalo and Downey’s previous interactions in the MCU, as Banner and Tony Stark quickly formed a rapport. The same goes for a scene where Doom is forging his iconic armor, hinting that the Lord of Latveria is both similar to, and wholly different from, the hero that kick-started the entire MCU.
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Avengers: Doomsday premieres in theaters on December 18, 2026. Avengers: Endgame Encore is now playing in theaters.
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