Why some fans aren't on board with Robert Downey Jr.'s return to the MCU

Marvel is having a big week. Deadpool & Wolverine is obliterating the box office, having the biggest opening for an R-rated movie in history and the eighth biggest overall. Meanwhile, at San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Joe and Anthony Russo, the guys behind Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, will return to direct two two new Avengers movies: Doomsday and Secret Wars, due out in 2026 and 2027.

Already, there are some big shifts there. Originally, Doomsday was going to be a different movie called The Kang Dynasty, starring Jonathan Majors as the titular inter-dimensional tyrant. But then Majors was found guilty of harassment and reckless assault in the third degree, and Disney cut ties with him. Instead, it looks like the iconic Marvel villain Doctor Doom, often an enemy of the Fantastic Four, will fill in.

And should be playing Doctor Doom but Robert Downey Jr., who played Iron Man for years up until the character's death in 2019's Endgame? “New Mask. Same task. What can I tell you, I like playing complicated characters,” he told the crowd at SDCC.

A lot of fans are very excited about Downey's return to the MCU; clearly the people in the crowd went wild. But because complaining, let's look at what some of the naysayers are saying. YouTuber Johnny2Cellos can kick us off: "Every single thing about this sucks lol," he wrote on Twitter/X to 53 thousand likes.

It's not hard to find other reactions like that. But why? Ben L Maden puts it like this: "It just reeks of the MCU wanting to get rid of Kang quickly and using stunt casting/nostalgia bating to gain favour with fans."

Other object to Marvel not casting someone of Romani origin to play the character. "doctor doom being a romani man with a background CENTERING his family's racial persecution. with his ethnicity at the forefront of his motivations and his tragedy. and they really just brought back robert downey junior. wow. WOW," wrote doctor victor von gloom, who proclaims themselves "twitter's doctor doom expert, keeper of doom canon, and all-around melodramatique scarred villain connoisseur."

They could go with a version of Doctor Doom who is an alternate universe varIent of Tony Stark, although it seems a little odd to cast Downey Jr. as a character best known for wearing a mask all the time. I do think it seems like a stunt, but if that stunt draws people to the movie theater, I imagine that's all Disney and Marvel will care about. Or as Joel Lolar puts it, "Robert Downey Jr playing Dr. DOOM is a the worst idea that’s going to make a billion dollars at the box office."

Doctor Doom will probably first appear in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, which we now know is entitled Fantastic Four First Steps, That one is coming out on July 25, 2025.

DC fights back with a trailer for The Penguin

There's alot of enegy around Marvel right now. Warner Bros. Discovery has the screen rights to Marvel's longtime comics rival DC. How are they responding? The biggest they put out at Comic-Con was probably a trailer for The Penguin, which features Colin Farrell reprising his role from 2022's The Batman:

Will people be interested in a grounded, Batman-adjacent crime series about Oswald Cobblepot trying to make it big in the criminal underworld of Gotham City? The Penguin comes out on HBO and Max on September 19.

I don't how The Penguin's going to do, although I'm certain that WBD will notch a win for themselves when Joker: Folie à Deux comes out in theaters on October 4. That one could give Deadpool & Wolverine a run for its money so far as R-rated mega-hits go.

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