How desperate is Marvel to get bums in seats? Desperate enough to bring back Robert Downey Jr. for Avengers 5 as... Doctor Doom?

Oh dear, it looks like Disney is a bit worried about the future of the MCU, as it's bringing back Robert Downey Jr… but as fan favourite villain Doctor Doom.

I'm over in the UK, so when I went to bed last night knowing that Marvel's Comic-Con panel was happening, I thought to myself "how bad could it be?" It felt obvious that the company was going to pull something big, given that it hasn't been at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H in a little while, and considering the fact that the MCU has been waning in popularity in recent years. Deadpool & Wolverine might be on track for a great opening, but Ant-Man 3 and The Marvels both struggled at the box office, at least compared to earlier entries in the franchise. So how is Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige plan to fix this? Well to start, he's bringing back Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame directing duo the Russo Brothers to helm the next couple of Avengers films.

Avengers 5 even has a brand new name, because yes, Marvel is no longer going down the Kang route after accusations of assault and harassment were placed upon Jonathon Majors, accusations he was later found guilty for. Now, Avengers 5 will be called Avengers: Doomsday. Yes, that is because Doctor Doom will be the big bad, as previous reports indicated - and he'll be the big bad through to the following Avengers film, Secret Wars, too. Here comes the second thing Feige is doing to get people back on board with the MCU - he's brought back Iron Man/ Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr. to play Doctor Doom.

I don't know about you, but this feels ridiculously gimmicky. Aside from being a bit of a creatively cowardly decision, there's also the issue that many fans wanted Doom to be portrayed by a Romani actor, as that is the character's heritage, a heritage very important to his story. It's obvious that this is going to be some kind of multiverse play, that's Marvel's whole thing at the minute, so maybe this is something of a red herring, but it still feels like quite a groan worthy decision.

Avengers: Doomsday is currently slated to be released May 2026, with Secret Wars due out the following May in 2027.