A year ago, when it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the iconic villain Doctor Doom, fans went absolutely wild. In just about a year and a half from now, we’ll get to see Avengers: Doomsday, but there are already a lot of questions about what happens next.
Avengers: Doomsday will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars a year later, and expectations are that Downey's Doctor Doom will appear in both movies. While it seems likely that the villain will be defeated by the end of the Avengers double feature, as Thanos was before, there’s now a rumor that Robert Downey Jr. might return to the MCU for the long haul.
Could Doctor Doom Return Following Avengers: Secret Wars?
The rumor comes from serial scooper Daniel Richtman (via ComicBook.com), whose track record isn’t perfect, but has certainly been reliable on multiple occasions. According to him, conversations are currently going on regarding whether to make Doctor Doom, and by extension Robert Downey Jr., a returning character following the events of Avengers: Secret Wars.
On the one hand, Avengers movies have traditionally been used as ways to wrap up major story arcs. Of course, Loki didn’t die at the end of the original Avengers movie, so there’s no reason that Doctor Doom needs to be defeated permanently at the end of Doomsday or even Secret Wars. In fact, there’s every reason to believe that Doom could end up being beaten in the next movie (even seemingly permanently) and still return.
Avengers: Secret Wars Will Be A New Beginning For The MCU
The back-to-back Avengers movies planned mirror the way that the two parts of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame came together. It’s less clear that the next two movies will actually be two parts of one story. In fact, it’s been specified already that Secret Wars is set to be a new beginning, rather than an ending, for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Kevin Feige has said the movie will act as some sort of reboot of the franchise, which may result in old characters returning and even being recast. While it’s far from clear how any of this will happen from a story perspective, it certainly means there’s a door open to Doctor Doom being alive and well at the end of Avengers: Secret Wars, regardless of what happens previously.
Certainly, if Marvel Studios likes what Robert Downey Jr. is doing with Doctor Doom in the Avengers movies, it would be a shame to only have him appear a couple of times. It could also make for an interesting chapter in the MCU if Doctor Doom remains a major antagonist for the next phase, or phases, but is around from the very beginning. At this point, we know nothing about what will happen after Secret Wars except that the MCU isn’t going anywhere.
