Casting Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom Was Kevin Feige’s Decades-Long Dream
San Diego Comic Con 2024 cemented itself as one of the event’s most memorable installments the moment the MCU’s new Victor Von Doom unmasked himself. That’s when we all learned Robert Downey, Jr. is playing the iconic comic book character . No one expected the franchise’s first big screen hero to return as one of Marvel’s greatest villains . So who had the idea to bring RDJ back as Doctor Doom? Turns out it was the man in charge of the entire MCU, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. Yes, Feige himself has wanted Downey as Doctor Doom for some time. But he’s not responsible for another big return that is also taking place. Downey helped talked Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo into also coming back.
During an appearance with Omelete (which we first heard about at Deadline ), the Russo brothers provided some insight into how one of Hollywood’s most shocking casting decisions happened. Joe Russo said, “That was Kevin [Feige].” Turns out the MCU’s head honcho never stopped thinking about a possible “what if” from 2005’s Fantastic Four . RDJ was considered for the role of Doctor Doom in that film. While fans have known about the sliding doors superhero moment, Kevin Feige decided to open it when given the chance.
RELATED ARTICLE
AVENGERS: ENDGAME Re-Release Will Contain NEW DOOMSDAY Footage
The Russos also said “that conversation” about the former Iron Man as Doctor Doom “was had a while ago.” Feige was apparently thinking about “Victor Von Downey” longer than anyone knew.
Despite Downey’s stunning casting, the Russos claim they weren’t onboard with their own MCU return initially. (We say “claim” because they always said they’d only return for Secret Wars .) How did they end up agreeing to helm both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars ? “Robert tried to talk us into doing it and we said ‘no.’ We just didn’t have a story,” the brothers said. “We didn’t have a way in.” That lack of an “in” made them “resistant for a while.”
They say that changed when their “key” collaborator Steve McFeely came up with “a really powerful story.” It’s one they said “has to be told.” While they refused to say what that exact story is, we should expect it to center Downey’s villain the way the Russos Infinity War centered Thanos. “We love villains who think they’re the hero of their own stories,” said Joe Russo. “That’s when they become three dimensional and they become more interesting. And when you have an actor like Robert Downey, you have to create a well shaped, three-dimensional character for the audience.”
Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr. himself shared some thoughts on why he returned for Doom, offering at the 1:13:08 mark:
And so, again, what he really did was say, I want to go I want to cast against type supposedly because I know that Downy’s as much a Strauss as he is a Tony Stark or whatever. So really what it is too is sometimes the universe has this larger perspective and someone says, ‘Hey, guess what? I think you can do this thing that people have never seen you do very well and I’m and I’m betting on it.’ And then you go, ‘Oh s**t.’ So then there’s that sense of obligation can be the mother of deformity. But I think also appreciation for validation is demonstrated in perspiration. So I worked my ass off to make sure that I was so prepared. Sydney Lumett would have been happy exactly with the way I showed up to set.
Now I’m dipping my toe back in there but I honestly feel like I’ve I don’t want to say I’ve earned the the right to be able to be granted access where no actor for hire has been. But I’ve always had this thing where I’m kind of, even in Chaplain it was about he transitioned from the silent era to talkies or did he? Because really it was but it was all to make The Great Dictator which was possibly the most important statement of his entire artistic career. And now having played Tony Stark for all those years, I’m coming back into Marvel again. Without Lewis Strauss and without Nolan’s endorsement, it wouldn’t make as much sense to say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to hit that button again, but now I’m going to do it in this genre.’ But really, what’s interesting to me is digging into what happens backstage at the world, not being afraid of scale.”
Well, we guess that if the MCU had to cast Robert Downey Jr. in the MCU for the second time, it may as well be for a totally different role that’s lived rent-free for him in the minds of its makers. We’ll see how it all plays out when Avengers: Doomsday releases on December 18, 2026.
RELATED ARTICLE
AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Delivers an Epic Trailer to End CinemaCon
Originally Published on March 24, 2025.
The post Casting Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom Was Kevin Feige’s Decades-Long Dream appeared first on Nerdist .
