Avengers: Doomsday

I ’m convince thatMarvel Studiosis gearing up for its most mind - twist twist yet in regard to Robert Downey Jr. play Doctor Doom inAvengers : Doomsday . With RDJ ’s disgraceful return tothe MCU timelinein2026’sAvengers : Doomsday , many are buzzing with theory . Yet there ’s one account that ’s so strange , so specific , and so Marvel , that it might really be the real answer . Indeed , a forgotten issue of Marvel’sWhat If … ?offers the perfect elbow room to explain why the MCU ’s Doom looks like Tony Stark .

primitively set to climax inAvengers : The Kang Dynasty , the MCU ’s multiverse saga is steering toward a new finale : retaliator : Doomsday . This come about in the wake ofJonathan Majors being displace as Kang , leavingthe MCU ’s futurecompletely in question . Yet the biggest shock was that Robert Downey Jr. is give – not as Tony Stark , but as the MCU ’s translation of Victor Von Doom .

Robert Downey Jr’s Casting As Doctor Doom Has Raised So Many Questions For The MCU

Many Fan Theories Have Speculated How The MCU Will Explain Doom Looking Like Iron Man

The news that Robert Downey Jr. plays Doctor Doom inAvengers : Doomsdaysent the MCU viewers into a speculative hysteria . For more than a X , RDJ was the Marvel Cinematic Universe . His portrayal of Tony Starkhelped build the franchise from the ground up , and his leaving inAvengers : Endgamefelt like the perfect leave . Now , not only is he returning , but he ’s doing so as one of Marvel ’s most iconic baddie – and many are struggling to understand how .

avenger : Doomsday could retell an iconic MCU moment that help to delimitate the Infinity Saga after this major setup look in the Thunderbolts * .

The real head - scratcher is that Downey ’s Doom is n’t a variant of Tony Stark . Early rumors indicate audience might see a multiverse version of Stark who went dark , possibly merging the personas of Iron Man and Doom . That would ’ve been an easy muddle . However , subsequent reports confirmed that this is , in fact , the MCU ’s Victor Von Doom andexplicitly not a misrepresented variation of Tony Stark .

Tony Stark ending Avengers Endgame’s Battle of Earth with a snap

This goes beyond the break of incredulity – it challenge the integral visual nomenclature of the MCU . When a brass is that iconic , that recognizable , using it again – peculiarly for a different character reference – has to come with some kind of narrative justification . Otherwise , itrisks confusing audiences and undermine both lineament . For Marvel to root for this off , they postulate something sheer . Something funny - book enough to make it all check . As it turns out , the cartoon strip may have already written the answer for them over a decade ago .

The MCU Already Has One Easy Way To Explain Doctor Doom Being Played By Iron Man’s Actor When Looking At The Comics

What If? Iron Man: Demon In An Armor Provides The Perfect

What If ? Iron Man : Demon in an Armor(2010 ) # 1 provides the perfect result to the MCU ’s Doom looking like Iron Man . In that one - pellet , a fateful college experiment between two brilliant vernal minds – Tony Stark and Victor Von Doom – locomote terribly wrong . The experimentation result inTony Stark ’s mind being transferred into Victor Von Doom ’s torso . Stark , pin in Doom ’s body , has his memories wiped and is deported back to Latveria , where he grows up under the thumb of poverty , political discord , and personal disgrace .

Anthony Mackie place a picture to social medium in a familiar - looking location that now makes me think Scarlet Witch will come back in Avengers : Doomsday .

Meanwhile , Doom flourish in Tony ’s animation – gaining ascendency of Stark Industries , savor in wealth and prestige , andultimately taking the mantle of Iron Man for himself . The resultant role is a flaky reimagining of Marvel ’s two greatest egotists . Doom becomes a twisted rendering of Iron Man – cold , ruthless , powerful . And Stark , rob of his privilege and identity element , walk the hard way toward becoming something more dangerous . It ’s a story that trade more than bodies – it swaps destiny .

Robert Downey Jr. announcing himself as Doctor Doom at 2024’s SDCC

Why Adapting Demon In An Armor Would Make Perfect Sense For The MCU’s Multiverse Story

Demon In An Armor Depicts Doctor Doom With The Face Of Tony Stark

For the MCU , this is the thoroughgoing narrative machine to explicate why Doctor Doom has Tony Stark ’s face . All they have to do is flip the script : the MCU ’s Victor Von Doomcould have had his judgment transfer into a variant soundbox of Tony Stark . Doom has RDJ ’s aspect , and it ’s not a coincidence : it ’s canyon .

Marvel has been slant heavily into multiverse mechanics ever sinceLoki , Spider - Man : No Way Home , andDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . ButAvengers : Doomsdayis balance to go even further – and with that comes the opportunity to embrace some truly out - there comic storyline . If they adaptDemon in an Armor , they would n’t just solve the RDJ - as - Doom dilemma – they ’d alsoreinforce central multiverse themesin a originative and character - driven way .

Two of the highest - ranked MCU film in story could be combine for Avengers : Doomsday , if the story rag by Thunderbolts * is anything to go by .

Team Captain America running into battle at the airport in Captain America: Civil War (2016)

I’m Genuinely Hoping The MCU Will Adapt Marvel’s What If? Story For Their Doctor Doom Backstory

Demon In An Armor Is The Perfect Way To Explain Doom’s Appearance

There are plenty of wild theories out there about how the MCU will justify Robert Downey Jr. play Doctor Doom . However , none finger as born – or as narratively copious – as adaptingWhat If ? Iron Man : Demon in an Armor . It ’s unsung enough that most motion-picture fan would n’t see it come , but it has all the ingredient needed to tear off a satisfying twist : body swapping , adapted fate , and virtuously complex character development . These are all , incidentally , theexact same themes explored throughout the Multiverse Saga .

It would also do something Marvel is in heroic need of right now – give Doctor Doom a truly unique line of descent narrative . Doom ’s comic backstory is iconic , but it ’s also been told and ingeminate across unlike media . Having him be a necromancer - scientist from Latveria is expected . Making him that , plus the humans who now inhabits Tony Stark ’s body , would bea bold and dynamic development .

The MCU has often borrowed loosely fromWhat If?scenarios , but this would be the most unmediated lift yet . It would also cleverlysidestep any motivation to upraise Tony Stark or loosen his perfect closing . Instead , it reframes his bequest as something twisted – a bequest Doom has stolen and repurposed .

Iron Man looks in the mirror in What If Iron Man Demon In An Armor cover

More significantly , it gives RDJ the luck to all reinvent himself within the Marvel Universe . He would n’t be playing Tony Stark again . He ’d be playing someone put on Tony Stark ’s aliveness like a suit of armor – and doing it inthe most sinister way imaginable . That ’s the variety of storytelling that could makeAvengers : Doomsdayone of the MCU ’s most ambitious entries yet .

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Wanda Maximoff with tears in her eyes in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Iron Man holding up the Infinity Stones about the sacrifice himself in Avengers Endgame

The members of the Thunderbolts lining up in Thunderbolts* (2025)

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Headshot Of Joseph Quinn In The Premiere Of A Quiet Place: Day One

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Thunderbolts (2025) Official Poster

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