Robert Downey Jr. Doctor Doom Performance Already Doomed
Here’s some irony: Disney’s announcement that Robert Downey Jr. was returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom was meant to reassure everyone that Kevin Feige and crew were righting the ship. This expensive bit of stunt casting helps to give the next Avengers films a cool Big Bad while bringing back to the theater people who skipped out on disappointments like Quantumania and The Marvels. However, here’s a sober truth fans need to make peace with: the introduction of Marvel’s most famous masked villain will be meaningless because his mask will be off most of the time and he’ll just seem like “evil Tony Stark.”
A Variant
The initial announcement that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the MCU to play Doctor Doom was already more divisive among fans than Disney had anticipated. Many were just excited to see the talented actor return in any capacity, of course, but others save this as the move of some creatively bankrupt executives.
And hardcore fans of the character from the comics were disappointed because they wanted Doom to be a compelling onscreen villain in his own right, but now it looks like he will be nothing more than just another Tony Stark Variant.
Masks Optional
However, it’s my turn to play Debbie Downer and warn that Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal as Doctor Doom is already (ahem) doomed because of a practice as old as superhero cinema. These movies always feature characters with their masks off for many different reasons: for example, doing this helps drive home that a real actor is in the suit and that everything we’re seeing is more than just CGI wizardry.
And showcasing these movies’ most famous faces helps make it easier for studios to cut killer trailers even as it makes it easier for fans to make dank memes.
Doom Isn’t Like Other Marvel Characters
This is why the MCU hasn’t had too many prominent masked heroes or villains, and when we do get ones like Star-Lord or Spider-Man, they spend most of their time outside of the mask.
Historically, I haven’t had a problem with this—it’s just the nature of making superhero films. However, Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Doctor Doom is going to suffer from this policy in large part thanks to this villain being someone who very rarely takes off the mask in the comics.
There’s No Way Downey Will Stay Masked
Think of it this way: considering the truckloads of cash that Disney is paying Robert Downey Jr. to return to the MCU (it’s supposed to be significantly more than $80 million), there is no way the studio will be hiding his famous face behind the bad guy’s mask outside of CGI-heavy action scenes.
As usual, this will make for great trailers, memes, and probably some memorable scenes. But it will be very difficult for the average fan to look at Doom without his mask and not just see Tony Stark on a villainous bender.
Tony On Laundry Day
Remember how Robert Downey Jr. looked at SDCC when he came out in the silly green outfit and announced he would be playing Doctor Doom? Buckle up, because that’s pretty much how he’s going to look throughout the entirety of Avengers: Doomsday. Your mileage may vary, but when I saw him onstage, all I could think of was “this is how badly Tony Stark must dress on laundry day.”
Not Really Tony, Not Really Doom
The end result is that we’re going to be getting the worst of both worlds with Robert Downey Jr.: he’ll hardly ever wear the Doctor Doom mask because Marvel wants us to associate him with Tony Stark.
Of course, he won’t actually be Tony, which will annoy Iron Man fans who were hoping for more quips and heroic moments. But he won’t really be Doctor Doom, either, because his portrayal is guaranteed to mostly ditch the villain’s famous mask and everything it signifies.
Prove Me Wrong
As usual, I’d love to be wrong, and I’ll be quite happy if Robert Downey Jr. is behind the Doctor Doom mask the majority of the time. But I’m willing to bet all the Infinity Stones that the character will be mostly maskless and presented as “Tony Stark, but evil.”
And if Marvel’s scariest comic book villain constantly looks like what we saw at SDCC– a bored celebrity reading bad copy about his huge payday return–then the MCU’s big comeback may be “doomed” before it even begins.
