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Robert Downey Jr. is back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
At San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, July 27, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gave fans a preview of the next few years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and revealed that Downey, 59, will portray the villain Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom in the next two Avengers movies, titled Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Feige, 51, also confirmed that directors Anthony and Joe Russo will return to the franchise to direct Doomsday.
Feige and the Russo brothers shared that the Avengers saga will lead toward an adaptation of the popular comic-book run Secret Wars, but not before Downey re-enters the MCU as one of Marvel’s favorite villains instead of reprising his role as Iron Man.
“New mask, same task,” Downey said as he emerged onto the panel’s stage among a group of actors wearing masks and robes. “What did I tell ya? I like playing complicated characters.”
The Russo brothers stated prior to revealing Downey Jr. that they believe “there is one very important character required to do Secret Wars justice,” and teased they would need “the greatest actor in the world” to play Doctor Doom.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty
At Comic-Con in 2022, Feige, officially announced forthcoming MCU titles, including a Blade reboot and two more Avengers installments. Collectively referred to as Phase Five and Six, or the Multiverse Saga, they were initially planned to revolve around Jonathan Majors‘ villainous Kang the Conqueror, with the fifth Avengers movie titled The Kang Dynasty.
But following Majors being found guilty of assault and harassment in his misdemeanor trial of December 2023, the studio dropped the 34-year-old Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star and announced that the next Avengers film would be renamed.
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Other members of the MCU’s original Avengers, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, appeared at Comic-Con on Thursday, July 25, promoting Deadpool & Wolverine and Transformers One, respectively.
San Diego Comic-Con runs July 24–28. Following this weekend’s release of Deadpool & Wolverine, the next MCU film will be Captain America: Brave New World, in theaters on Feb. 14, 2025.
