Avengers: Doomsday Will Finally Deliver A Doctor Doom ‘Worth Being Scared Of’On the big screen, it’s fair to say that Doctor Doom has not been served well.
The aim is to finally deliver on all the things that make Victor Von Doom tick.
He’s worth being scared of.” That fear factor will be compounded and underpinned by tragedy.
“Thanos believed he was serving a greater good.”Across his entire Marvel history so far, Downey Jr. has been all about that greater good.
He’s Victor Von Doom.” And his day is finally coming.
Avengers: Doomsday Will Finally Deliver A Doctor Doom ‘Worth Being Scared Of’
On the big screen, it’s fair to say that Doctor Doom has not been served well. While the character has previously appeared as the antagonist of 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2015’s reboot, Doom’s screen incarnations have always been somewhat compromised, not reflective of what his true status should be: one of the most fearsome, formidable, and fascinating characters in Marvel history. But all that is about to change. Avengers: Doomsday is about to give Doom his… well, day – taking everything that makes the character so compelling on the page, and bringing it to life with someone who knows a thing or two about playing an MCU heavyweight: Robert Downey Jr.
The aim is to finally deliver on all the things that make Victor Von Doom tick. “Doom is a Gothic character,” director Joe Russo tells Empire. “He says, ‘Hell answers to me,’ and he’s not kidding. He’s a very powerful character with some very dark magic, and he’s not above selling his soul to get what he wants. He’s worth being scared of.” That fear factor will be compounded and underpinned by tragedy. “He’s a father who’s a victim of trauma. He has lost a child,” teases Russo. “When people see the film they say it’s a very scary movie. It’s scary because he’s so profoundly damaged.” Expect a different flavour to the Avengers’ last big bad. “Doom is much more ego-driven than Thanos,” says co-director Anthony Russo. “Thanos believed he was serving a greater good.”
Across his entire Marvel history so far, Downey Jr. has been all about that greater good. His Tony Stark sparked the entire franchise, and closed the Infinity Saga too with his sacrificial ‘snap’. Returning all these years later as Doom required some recalibration. “Remember Michael Douglas at the end of Falling Down? He goes, ‘I’m the bad guy?’ I had that realisation a couple of days into shooting,” he tells Empire, “because all the heroes are over there, and I’m the problem. And then I leaned in, and it was just this glorious time.” If Iron Man built the MCU, Doom is ready to remake it in his image. “I like a bit of scorched earth,” teases Downey Jr. “Whatever you think he may be entertaining, I would ten times it, and you’ll probably be closer to the ballpark.”
Still, the question remains: does the casting of Robert Downey Jr. mean that Victor Von Doom is somehow a variant of Tony Stark? Right now, Marvel boss Kevin Feige maintains that he isn’t. “Is Steve Rogers a Johnny Storm variant?” he notes, pointing to Chris Evans’ return across various eras of Marvel. “People wondered, ‘Is Doom just a variant of another character? Is this just a shortcut to bringing back another character?’ The answer is no. He’s Victor Von Doom.” And his day is finally coming.
