Robert Downey Jr. Makes 'Shocking' Return to Marvel

Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, is an iconic character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, memorably played by Robert Downey Jr. But Iron Man, of course, was killed off in 2019 in Avengers: Endgame. So how is it that RDJ announced Saturday at San Diego's Comic-Con that he'd be returning to the MCU? No, Stark isn't being resurrected—Downey is playing Doctor Doom (aka Victor Von Doom) in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, planned for 2026 and 2027, respectively, per USA Today. As NBC News explains, this is all part of the major pivot the MCU made after dropping Jonathan Majors in the wake of his domestic violence conviction—Majors' Kang the Conqueror was supposed to be the next "big bad" the Avengers faced, but instead, it will be Doom. Coverage around the surprise announcement:

• How could this work? As Entertainment Weekly theorizes, "Since Secret Wars is a multiverse story, that raises the distinct possibility that Downey's Doom may by a multiversal variant of Tony Stark." USA Today offers the same theory, but notes it's also possible that the whole "same-actor-playing-two-different-characters" thing will turn out to be a moot point: "If Doom is always hidden behind his mask, Downey could also be disguised to the point that it isn't obvious that it's even him." At Forbes, Paul Tassi says he hopes it's the latter.
• Who is Doctor Doom? IGN delves into the Marvel Comics' villain's backstory here.
• What do the fans think? Some are quite excited, judging from the reaction of the Comic-Con audience and the memes proliferating online. Others, however, decried it as a "desperate" move to get fans invested in the MCU again, the Independent reports.
• What do other MCU stars think? Gwyneth Paltrow is confused, Mark Ruffalo is excited—People looks at a few reactions here.
• Another Comic-Con surprise: Harrison Ford was revealed to be stepping into an important role in the MCU, one that involves him turning into Red Hulk. MovieWeb has a clip of Ford doing a Hulk roar and the crowd going wild.
• Want more? At the Hollywood Reporter, Richard Newby does a deep dive into other, better directions he believes the MCU should have gone.

(More Robert Downey Jr. stories.)