Every year, SDCC is filled with sneak peeks, announcements and familiar faces. People line up to meet their favorite celebs and get their hands on exclusive merch as well as make new friends. But every now and then there’s one announcement that either makes the convention or breaks the convention….and this one certainly breaks something.
The announcement in question: Robert Downey Jr was announced to play Doctor Doom in two Avengers movies.
Don’t get us wrong, we love RDJ and everything he brought to the table as Tony Stark aka Iron Man. No one could ever top that performance or replace him in future roles. But to return as Doctor Doom? We’re not alone when it comes to confusion and mild disappointment. It’s understandable that people are getting “multiverse fatigue” and it makes sense to believe that this is just an evil variant of Stark in another universe. It certainly wasn’t on our bingo card this year but nonetheless, it’s crossed off as an unexpected surprise.
Does it feel like a cash grab? To some it might. It does feel like that Marvel is scrambling a bit to come up with something big for phase six because let’s be honest here: their track record lately hasn’t been the greatest. With box office flops such as The Marvels, they needed something huge to bring everyone back to the theaters. So why not do that by bringing back a familiar face but just as a different role? While some fans were hoping for a different actor and a fresh face instead, others are very hyped for RDJ’s return to the Marvel universe.
Can the audience be convinced that he’ll fit into these new shoes? Only time will tell. Where he may be playing a new role of a villain, many of us will always and forever see him as Iron Man. Hopefully he can sway the audience as time goes on.
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