Marvel Boss Officially Confirms Robert Downey Jr.‘s Doctor Doom Isn’t an Iron Man Variant

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the finale of ‘VisionQuest.’With Avengers: Doomsday nearly a month from release, speculation has grown about what the film will be about, especially since little of the plot has been revealed. So far, Marvel Studios has released two trailers for the upcoming feature, showcasing a team-up between different superhero teams across the multiverse and their main foe: Doctor Doom. So, with so much speculation around this superhero movie, executive producer Kevin Feige has decided to set the record straight.

Doctor Doom’s casting was announced in 2024, when it was revealed that the 5th Avengers movie would no longer have Kang the Conqueror as the big bad following Jonathan Majors‘ assault allegations, and would instead feature the notable Fantastic Four villain, thus changing the title from The Kang Dynasty to Doomsday. Additionally, it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU, playing this villain rather than his old role – Iron Man. With the MCU in its “Multiverse Saga,” starting with WandaVision, theories emerged about this casting and its connection to Doomsday’s plot.

Fans have theorized that Doctor Doom is a Tony Stark variant and that Avengers: Doomsday was secretly bringing back Iron Man, one way or another. During an interview with Empire Magazine, Feige set the record straight on who Victor Von Doom is in the MCU and confirmed that the character is their own person, just like how the Human Torch is not a Steve Rogers variant, despite both being played by the same actor, Chris Evans. This is what he had to say:

“Is Steve Rogers a Johnny Storm variant? People wondered, ‘Is Doom just a variant of another character? Is this just a shortcut to bringing back another character?’ The answer is no. He’s Victor Von Doom.”

How Powerful is Doctor Doom in the MCU?

In 2022, Marvel star Simu Liu shared a shirtless photo of Majors with the caption, “bro the Avengers are straight up effed.” While the post referred to the chances of The Earth’s Mightiest Heroes facing Kang, the comment could still apply to Doctor Doom, based on information shared across different MCU projects and interviews. In that same Empire Magazine interview, co-director Joe Russo described Doctor Doom as someone the Avengers should be “scared of.” This is what he said:

“Doom is a Gothic character. He says, ‘Hell answers to me,’ and he’s not kidding. He’s a very powerful character with some very dark magic, and he’s not above selling his soul to get what he wants. He’s worth being scared of.”

While audiences have yet to see Doom’s full potential, they already got a glimpse of what this villain is capable of. In the post-credit scenes of Avengers: Endgame Encore and VisionQuest, he was seen traveling across the multiverse, taking some of Earth-616’s heroes, including Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen); he revived the latter using his powers, despite many thinking the Scarlet Witch sacrificed herself in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Meanwhile, some of Doom’s powers were showcased in the Avengers: Doomsday Special Look Trailer, where he faced Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on his own and raised an army of giants from the ground.

Avengers: Doomsday is set to come out on December 18, 2026. Follow Collider for more updates.

Release Date

December 18, 2026

Runtime

165 Minutes