For those who have never experienced it, Marvel’s Hall H panel is the first time at San Diego Comic-Con. In addition to showing enthusiasts photos they might not see anywhere else, the studio brings out its biggest stars and spares no expense. to ensure that attendees leave entertained. Surprises are, of course, part of the show, and the Disney-owned assets pulled off one of the biggest in years by announcing Robert Downey Jr. ‘s big return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As someone who was in Hall H at the time of the announcement, I can see that the public reaction was deafening. Damn, I was excited too, because who expected this to happen? However, when I left the theater and returned to the CinemaBlend studio at the Hilton Bayfront, the idea began to sour on me. Now I have major considerations about his inclusion in the upcoming Marvel movies that I have to write about.
It’s worth mentioning that Marvel cleverly set up the crowd to collectively lose their minds before this big announcement. Although it is a more or less poorly kept secret, the studio contacted the Russo brothers to make the next two Avengers films and had enough confirmation to generate applause.
The Russos then upped the ante by signaling their clear goal to move away from Kang The Conqueror and instead direct a cozy reboot adaptation of the popular Secret Wars story. By the time they announced all of this, they added that they were bringing the much-asked Dr. Doom to the MCU, Hall H was freaking out, and it was even more exciting that they had brought in the actor to play him. Once the mask was removed and RDJ was on stage, of course, other people were going to lose their minds! Who expected this to happen? Again, I admit I was surprised, but like I said, I became even more worried as I sat and thought about it.
The writers defended Tony Stark’s death as mandatory to legitimize the story of Avengers: Endgame, and the elimination of Robert Downey Jr. and other original Avengers made it seem like the torch had been passed on to a new generation of heroes. Unfortunately, we’re not, far from seeing those new stars take the reins of the MCU, and it turns out that the studio without delay made the decision that it was time to bring back a proven skill to the franchise.
I didn’t think we needed Robert Downey Jr. to step in and get other people interested in Marvel videos again, but it wasn’t part of their marketing and research. I guess building some other Avengers forged core would work instead, and they already have some heavyweights that are in the mix.
As his big Oscar win for Oppenheimer demonstrated, Robert Downey Jr. has a confident acting range. I’m sure he can offer wonderful functionality that other people will love, but is he what we’re looking for when it comes to Doctor Doom? He’s definitely not someone he would have chosen for the role, even knowing that there is a variant of Doom who is also Tony Stark.
I don’t need to be an age discriminator, however, RDJ is ten years older than Pedro Pascal, whose main rival, Reed Richards, is Doctor Doom. We all know that the MCU is rarely heavily beholden to Marvel canon, but wasn’t that what those guys intended?Being in school at the same time? If I look at those two men, I don’t think they’re the same age, and I’d be concerned if Marvel makes the decision to go that direction to describe their relationship.
There have been so many actors that enthusiasts have speculated that they might play Dr. Doom over the years, and many of them were wonderful choices. I liked the concept of Bryan Cranston betting on the ruler of Latveria, but there are so many Hollywood actors who have not yet joined the MCU and it would be wonderful too.
Instead of seeing something else, Robert Downey Jr. plays something different from the character he made iconic. Hell, we may have gotten this functionality with any other actor. I hope RDJ at least plans to bring his A-game to the role, and there is a plan in motion. Otherwise, it feels like a stunt cast to draw audiences into theaters that might have gone under after Avengers: Endgame ended.
Robert Downey Jr. ‘s return to the MCU, along with the Russos’ return to directing, can’t help me feel like Marvel is panicking. We’ve known for a while that the studio would be moving away from Kang after firing Jonathan Majors amid his legal troubles, but completely abandoning the character and moving on to Doom feels like a total abandonment of everything that was built in this new era.
Bringing RDJ back to play Doctor Doom in the MCU feels like a Band-Aid that will lose its grip and fall off. It’s not like he can stay in the MCU indefinitely, and even if he did, the novelty of tracking him down again would be disappearing. Marvel Studios wants to thoroughly review the roadmap ahead and make sure it is well defined. However, we may have been without two more Avengers videos for a while. I’m sure the studio would have had something to keep if they had dropped it.
Time will tell if the bid to bring back Robert Downey Jr. will pay off. Until then, we’ll have to wait for more main points about Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars as they appear and stay in our hands. He crossed that Marvel has figured out a way to get its huge shared universe back on track.
Mick Joest is a content producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television intelligence. Star Trek is his main activity, but he also occasionally reports in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap. and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in radio and television. He is smart about hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if he gets the chance too.
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