Had been you as stunned as I used to be when it was introduced that Robert Downey Jr. was returning to the MCU to play Physician Doom? It was one hell of a bombshell to drop at San Diego Comedian-Con final 12 months, coming 5 years after he made his final look as Tony Stark, a.ok.a. Iron Man. Downey’s Doom would be the primary antagonist of the upcoming Marvel motion pictures Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and understandably, we’re nonetheless at nighttime about what’s in retailer for him. Nonetheless, I went down the rabbit gap to learn some theories on how Doom could also be used within the MCU, and these are among the many finest ones.
Kicking off the deep dive I did on Reddit, @Top_Pick5313 speculates that Avengers: Secret Wars received’t be the tip of Physician Doom’s story, however somewhat the start of 1 that culminates in him going through off in opposition to the demonic entity Mephisto in a solo film. Just like the comics, Doom’s finish objective can be precise revenge on Mephisto for taking his mom. The Redditor added:
Doom’s story can be the reverse of Thanos’ saga, as in not like Thanos who was teased in bits & completed off in epic ensembles, Doom would begin off with epic ensembles however will end off with a solo movie.
In fact, Robert Downey Jr. enjoying Physician Doom raises the query of why the villain seems to be like Tony Stark. Is he merely a Tony variant or is there one thing else occurring right here? ResourceNo5855 believes that RDJ’s Doom is possessing the physique of a Tony variant in an effort to get the Avengers and different heroes from Earth-616 to belief him. In addition they stated this about why it wouldn’t be essential to solid one other actor as Doom down the road:
In addition they wouldn’t even really want to solid one other actor to play Doom. it might simply be a badly mutilated RDJ who’s simply presupposed to be one other particular person however you’ll be able to’t even inform due to the facial disfigurement or they only by no means present his face. That may type of clarify why he nonetheless wears a masks typically with out having a mutilated face as Tony Stark as a result of it’s a behavior possibly and/or as a result of Iron Man wore a masks technically idk.
Advanced_Thing7166 additionally thinks that Physician Doom might be masquerading as Tony in Doomsday and Secret Wars. Of their state of affairs, nonetheless, Doom is the ruler of the Latveria on the Unbelievable 4’s Earth, however when that’s destroyed, he involves Earth-616 to beat its Latveria. After listening to about what occurred to Tony, he makes use of his skills to vary his face, then stops Galactus from consuming Earth-616 so he may be hailed as a benevolent godlike determine. Then they stated:
Then Unbelievable 4 arrive to 616 to warn them of Doom and Incursions however since Doom saved 616 its Avengers vs Unbelievable 4 alongside the X-Males Doom then slips up and is uncovered however it’s too late so that they combat Doom and his multiversal Doom bots (suppose council of kangs however with Doom) after which all of them combat Doom whereas incursions are occurring finally Doom creates Battleworld to cease the incursions.
Bitter_Swim3965 began off their idea with how RDJ’s Doom comes from the timeline in Avengers: Endgame the place Earth-616’s Tony stole the Pym Particles from Howard Stark in 1970. Howard was blamed for that, and he and Maria have been pressured to flee to Latveria, the place they raised their son, named Victor. From there, S.H.I.E.L.D. finds and blows up Howard and Maria, leaving the now-20-year-old Victor scarred and units him on the trail to forge his armor, be taught magic at Kamar-Taj, take management of Latveria and construct a military of Doombots to assault S.H.I.E.L.D. This results in Nick Fury beginning the Avenger Initiative, after which the next:
The Avengers attempt to cease him, however aren’t any match for his mixed magic and expertise. Doom destroys SHIELD and steals the Tesseract. The Tesseract and sling ring mixed enable him to maneuver via the multiverse. He needs to guard the multiverse, by combining all universes into one singular one underneath his rule. This units up Doomsday and Secret Wars, and presumably even permits him to develop into Notorious Iron Man after Secret Wars, like within the comics.
Lastly, TheGreatMason speculated that Robert Downey Jr.’s Physician Doom can be a simple Tony Stark variant, albeit one who additionally is aware of the mystic arts. So when he used the Infinity Stones to wipe out Thanos and his military, he survived due to his magic. They continued:
His face may very well be scarred the identical manner Tony’s face was scarred on the finish of Endgame and he may very well be the celebrated primary hero of his residence world. This might additionally give him extra instruments to govern the Avengers of 616. If he has the identical precise scar as 616 Tony as a result of he’s the hero who saved that world from Thanos, there are extra causes to belief him when he says that X-Males from Earth 10005 are evil, proper?
All of those are wonderful theories, and possibly a number of of them are even shut sufficient to what’s going to truly occur within the MCU. Alas, with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars each now delayed seven months of their respective launch years, we’ve got to attend even longer to have our questions answered. Nonetheless, there are rumblings that this July’s The Unbelievable 4: First Steps will see RDJ cameoing within the end-credits scene. So if that’s correct, we will rely on at the least slightly gentle being shed on the character.
For now, Avengers: Doomsday is ready for launch on December 18, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars follows on December 17, 2027. Be happy to revisit Robert Downey Jr.’s time because the heroic Iron Man by streaming his Marvel motion pictures along with your Disney+ subscription.