Following his role as Lewis Strauss in 2023 blockbuster Oppenheimer, you could be forgiven for thinking that Robert Downey Jr was done with the superhero scene and has moved on to being a little more serious in his acting roles.
Especially since, sorry if this is a spoiler, but his character Iron Man died in Avengers: Endgame back in 2019. Like, he died. We watched it happen. RIP to a real hero.
However, at San Diego Comic Con, the star revealed he’d be returning to the franchise.
As fans crammed into the auditorium to hear about upcoming Marvel films, they were greeted with a stage of hooded figures dressed as Doctor Doom, who is a supervillain from the Fantastic Four comics.
Suddenly, one of the masked figures revealed himself to be no other than Robert Downey Jr.
Speaking to the Comic Con crowd, Robert said: “New mask. Same task. What’d I tell you? I like playing complicated characters.”
He sure does.
The actor has a long relationship with Marvel as he played Iron Man for the first time in 2008 and continued playing as the hero until 2019.
Earlier this year, the actor perhaps hinted at this return when he said to Esquire: “It’s too integral a part of my DNA, that role chose me. And look, I always say, never, ever bet against Kevin Feige [president of Marvel Studios]. It is a losing bet. He’s the house. He will always win.”
While this may be a strange turn, seeing the esteemed actor playing this new role will be exciting for fans.
Doctor Doom is the main enemy of the Fantastic Four and the next installment of the franchise, The Fantastic 4: First Steps, is scheduled for July 2025.
Of course, it does beg questions of whether there’s any tie-in to Tony Stark or if this is an entirely new character.
Only a year to wait to find out...!