How Robert Downey Jr was chosen to play Doctor Doom
Mar 24, 2025
Washington [US], March 24 : Actor Robert Downey Jr. shared how it was shocking for everyone to see him walk onstage dressed as Doctor Doom at San Diego Comic-Con last year; it was a shock to nearly everyone, in large part because he had already saved the Marvel Universe as Tony Stark.
It seems the concept of Downey as a bad guy, Victor Von Doom, goes way back to before the actor was cast as Iron Man's alter ego, reported Deadline.
"I remember you had all met with [Downey] already for, like, Doctor Doom or something on another project," director Jon Favreau said in a 2023 conversation with Marvel boss Kevin Feige. "I think he had come through on maybe [2005's] Fantastic Four, so everybody sort of knew who he was," as per the outlet.
Victor Von Doom was ultimately portrayed in the 2005 film by Julian McMahon, and Downey went on to play Stark in 2008's Iron Man, but Feige held onto the idea of casting Downey as Doom, reported Deadline.
Downey agreed, and the actor tried to talk his Avengers: Endgame directors into getting the band back together for the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Doomsday, as per the outlet.
"Robert tried to talk us into doing it, but we said 'no.' We just didn't have a story. We didn't have a way in. We were resistant for a while."
"One day Steve McFeely, one of our chief collaborators, said, 'I have an idea.' We went, 'That's the story!' That story has to be told. It's a really powerful story."
What is that concept? Neither of the directors would divulge much until Joe offered, "The only thing I will say about the movie is this: We love villains who think they're the hero of their own stories. That's when they become three-dimensional, and they become more interesting. And when you have an actor like Robert Downey, you have to create a well-shaped, three-dimensional character for the audience," reported Deadline.
