Just a little over a year from now, Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters, bringing us an Infinity War-style confrontation between a massive multiversal villain, Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, and a new version of the Avengers defending Earth-616.
None of this is a spoiler. We’re in the closing stages of the Multiverse Saga, and we’re approaching Avengers: Secret Wars, which will give us the final battle between the same Doom and a much larger team of multiverse Avengers.
Marvel doesn’t have to tell us that we’re in for a repeat of the Infinity-War–Endgame playbook that worked so well at the end of the Infinity Saga. Our favorite heroes have to put up a great fight but ultimately lose in Doomsday, only to avenge it in Secret Wars.
That’s not to say we’re looking at an identical replica of those Avengers movies. While the plot details for either Doomsday or Secret Wars have not leaked, there is one big twist that we’ve known for several months now: Doctor Doom will look exactly like Earth-616’s Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, who sacrificed himself at the end of Endgame to save his universe.
I’ve always speculated it’s no accident that Marvel chose RDJ to play Doctor Doom. The villain has to have the same face as Tony Stark. Also, this gives Marvel the best cover for the kind of move some fans probably still expect. The Avengers could always “revive” Iron Man by finding a version from the past or an alternate reality to fight Doctor Doom in Secret Wars.
Before Marvel confirmed RDJ was returning to the MCU to play a different character, we’ve had all sorts of rumors saying Iron Man will be back. What better way to explain having RDJ on the set of an Avengers film than him playing a different character?
While that is speculation, we did get an exciting quote from the Russo brothers, who are directing the upcoming Avengers films, regarding the connection between Tony Stark and Doctor Doom.
That’s a potentially exciting teaser for the Doomsday plot, but I can’t tell you anything before warning you that big spoilers might follow.
Did we see Doctor Doom’s reality already?
I’ve long speculated that RDJ’s Doctor Doom isn’t the Doctor Doom MCU fans expect. While we should see RDJ cameo in The Fantastic Four, just to give the character a background story similar to how we saw Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the movies that preceded Infinity War, this isn’t the Doctor Doom the Avengers will eventually have to face. It can’t be.
I think this Doctor Doom is a version of Tony Stark with a completely different arc than the Iron Man variant that saved the universe in Endgame.
Rather than becoming ready to sacrifice himself so others could survive, this Tony Stark behaved differently, more similar to the early days of the MCU’s main Iron Man. This Tony Stark eventually became Doctor Doom, convinced that he alone could save his reality from any danger. Think Age of Ultron going in Tony’s favor, unlike what happened on Earth-616.
We have already seen one such reality where the Ultron project works. That’s Earth-838, where the Illuminati beat Thanos, likely with Tony Stark tech. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we saw that the Ultron robots serve the Illuminati in this reality. Hence, the Stark of that world is even more accomplished than the Earth-616 version. He’s even more infatuated with himself and his power.
But then Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) come to 838 to wreak havoc, with the former killing and/or maiming most of the Illuminati. Can you imagine what that does to a Stark version who might have thought his Earth was safe from any danger?
I believe such a Stark would become Doctor Doom if he weren’t already. Such a Stark might go hunting across realities to find 616-Wanda and Strange and avenge his friends.
Such a Stark would not be a true villain, whether he’s called Superior Iron Man or Doctor Doom. He’d be defending his reality from perceived threats. That’s why Doomsday, and especially Secret Wars, might feel like a reenactment of Civil War but with much higher stakes than the Sokovia Accords.
All of that is speculation from this MCU fan. And the fact that the Russo brothers can’t yet explain the connections between the death of Iron Man in Endgame and Doctor Doom only makes me hope I’m on the right track.
The Iron Man-Doctor Doom connection
The Times pressed the Russos on Tony’s sacrifice in Endgame when talking about the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday crossover. The directors know better than to drop MCU spoilers, but Anthony Russo did tease that Tony Stark’s death is connected to Doom:
We can’t explain that as it’s part of the story. But there’s nobody else in the world who could play this character the way he’s about to.
This isn’t enough to tell us that Doctor Doom is a Tony Stark variant gone bad. Again, Doctor Doom is going to be a villain from the perspective of Earth-616 and the audience who loves those heroes. But it’s likely that Doom only wants to save his Earth, which was Tony Stark’s main driving force.
Whatever the case, RDJ certainly seems excited about playing a different MCU character. The news comes from the same Russos, who says the actor is deeply involved in making Doctor Doom as complex as possible:
He’s writing backstory and sharing costume ideas. He’s really — we were just on the phone this morning, before we got here, talking about it. … He just loves really rich, three-dimensional characters, and I think he sees a real opportunity here with that character.
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters in early May 2026. We have plenty of time to see plot leaks until the film’s release.
