During Marvel’s panel at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, the big reveal was that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not as Tony Stark. RDJ would be taking on the mantle of another masked figure though, that being the villainous Doctor Doom, one of Marvel’s most iconic and fearsome foes. But how is this possible and, better yet, why is Marvel doing this? Is it a desperate bid to win over a fan base that has grown tired of its product? Or is this actually a brilliant move that subverts expectations? Well, the answer is both I’d say.

So we’re not blind to the fact that bringing Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU is akin to “break glass in case of emergency”. Phases four and five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been underwhelming, both from a financial perspective and from a storytelling one. With Deadpool & Wolverine working overtime to win over longtime fans (and succeeding based on the record box office numbers), Marvel and Kevin Fiege had to look to the future, especially now that Jonathan Majors‘ Kang is out of the picture. Considering Downey Jr. is the most iconic and beloved member of the MCU; he did kickstart it after all, I’m not surprised that they’d seek to bring him back, even if doing so is akin to dangling a carrot on a stick to a less enthusiastic fanbase.

But it’s the confirmation that he’s to play Doctor Doom that’s surprising and to make this work, I think we should hope that Marvel will make Doom a Tony Stark variant from another timeline, as opposed to Victor von Doom proper. We know the multiverse plays it fast and loose with how characters look across space and time (different actors can play the same character, or the same actor plays variations of the same character, with both points illustrated in Deadpool & Wolverine), so RDJ can easily play von Doom or Stark without it breaking established canon. But I really hope they go for the Stark route. Let me break down why.

Downey Jr. is far too ingrained with the Tony Stark character to play anyone else in the MCU. And thankfully for him and comic book nerds, there are Doctor Dooms in the comics who are actually Tony Stark variants as opposed to von Doom as is tradition. Such examples include Iron Maniac, Infamous Iron Man, and a What If comic where Stark and von Doom are college roommates whose minds swap bodies after an experiment. It’s also worth noting that the MCU has never been beholden to the comic book lore, often changing, remixing, or reimagining events to suit the cinematic iteration.

So the main reason why this would work so well is because Avengers: Secret Wars, now directed by the Russo Brothers (along with the newly announced Avengers: Doomsday), will be led by Tom Holland’s Spider-Man if we’re going by the comic books. To have Peter Parker suddenly have to go face to face against a galactic threat and that threat bears the face of his former mentor, that’ll lend itself to a lot of drama for Parker. We know Tony’s death really impacted him, it hung over Spider-Man: Far From Home’s plot, so to come face to face with Tony and have to go up against him on a Thanos-level threat is really interesting and one that sounds like the juicy foundations for a solid story.

I think there’s also potential to see what Tony Stark would have become had he remained a weapons dealer and not had a change of heart, so to speak, in the cave. To be given the chance to see an alternate reality, where Earth’s Mightiest Hero is instead one of the most iconic supervillains of all time is a neat twist and should allow for the now Oscar-winning Robert Downey Jr. to really flex his acting chops and not just repeat what he’s done before. It essentially becomes a live-action version of What If, but tied to the “sacred timeline”.

Of course, this whole argument for bringing Downey Jr. back to the MCU kind of falls apart if he is playing von Doom as opposed to Stark. I think this whole thing hinges on the shared experience the MCU has had with Tony, and how he’s the beacon of hope for so many people. To have RDJ come back and be someone else entirely who just so happens to share the same face as Stark doesn’t make much sense to me and the cracks in Marvel’s master plan really start to show if this is the case.

And I do worry that this could be the case, as the Russos did introduce Downey Jr. as von Doom, rather than Doctor Doom while at SDCC. A strategic coverup or official reveal? With Marvel, who knows. One thing we do know, thanks to Variety, is that Downey Jr. is being paid handsomely to return to the MCU, with sources saying his compensation will be north of $80 million for the two Avengers movies. He’ll also get a private jet, an on-set encampment, and round-the-clock security. So Marvel is clearly willing to pay out big bucks for these movies (the Russos will get $80 million between the two of them, so these Avengers budgets will likely break records). Here’s hoping that the cost pays off, not only for Marvel, but for the fanbase as well, because this is an insanely expensive gamble on their part.