Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play the villain Doctor Doom in two new Avengers films came as a huge shock to fans, but it turns out the news may not be a complete surprise. In a video released by Marvel Entertainment last year, director Jon Favreau sat down with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to reminisce about making the first MCU film, 2008’s Iron Man, Favreau revealed that Downey was already in Marvel’s orbit. And for what role? Doctor Doom.
“I remember Robert coming for a public meeting. [meeting] on [‘Iron Man’] “I actually met him for a Doctor Doom movie or something like that,” Favreau told Feige, who was an executive producer on 2005’s “Fantastic Four” and 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
“I think he was successful in Fantastic Four . So everyone knew who he was,” Favreau continued as the memory of meeting Downey in Doctor Doom two decades earlier came back to Feige, who nodded in agreement. “I remember sitting down with the guy and saying, ‘He’s got a spark in his eye and he’s ready.’ At the time we were in your office and we were focusing on his profile and saying we should try to figure this out.” [for ‘Iron Man’]”.”
Julian McMahon, who played Nip/Tuck, was the one who landed the role of Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom in 2005’s Fantastic Four, but now Downey has finally gotten his chance to play the legendary Marvel villain. As Marvel announced at Comic-Con, the Oscar-winning actor will reprise his role as Doctor Doom in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, both directed by the Russo brothers.
By the time Downey was supposed to reunite for Doctor Doom more than 20 years ago, his stardom had faded due to a series of legal troubles. The actor was arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded gun and sentenced to three years of probation. He was jailed for nearly four months a year later after missing a court-ordered drug test. He aced another test in 1999 and was sentenced to three years in prison. Downey served 15 months, then was arrested again four months after his release on a drug possession charge.
Downey’s troubles have made him somewhat of a pariah in Hollywood. At the same time that “Fantastic Four” was in development, Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” was also in development. Nolan revealed earlier this year that he met with Downey to discuss the villain role in the film, Scarecrow, though Nolan was “a little scared” of the actor at the time.
“I’ve heard all sorts of stories about how crazy you are,” Nolan told Downey in a joint interview with The New York Times. “It’s only been a few years since the last one came out about you.”
These stories also made Marvel nervous about casting Downey as Iron Man, even though Favreau knew he was the perfect choice. Former Marvel Studios president David Maisel also wanted to cast Downey, but “my board thought I was crazy to put the future of the company in the hands of a junkie.”
“It helped them understand how well he fit into the role,” Maisel said last year. “We were all confident that he was clean and would stay clean.”
Downey is set to make his first appearance as Doctor Doom when “Avengers: Doomsday” hits theaters on May 1, 2026.
