Marvel Studios’ Hall H Comic-Con panel gave fans a whole lot to be excited about, but by far the biggest moment of the night came when Iron Man star and Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr. was revealed to be returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom. Avengers: Endgame directing duo The Russo Brothers will also return to helm the fifth and sixth Avengers movies, now officially titled Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, with Downey Jr. sporting a different mask and playing the supervillain Doctor Doom in both.
Of course, Marvel fans could barely contain their excitement over the return of both the Iron Man actor and the Russos, taking to social media following the shock announcement.
The directors pointed out that Doctor Doom is one of the most complex characters in the Marvel Universe, and needed a truly great actor to bring him to life.
“Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves,” said The Russo Brothers.
What Happened to Kang in the MCU?
The introduction of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom likely suggests that Kang is now out of the MCU. But what happened? Kang actor Jonathan Majors, who has appeared as the supervillain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Loki on Disney+, received critical acclaim for the likes of Creed 3 and The Harder They Fall, as well as for his performance as Kang the Conqueror. While Kang was intended as the main villain in the latest phase of the MCU, Marvel Studios cut ties with the actor following the guilty verdict.
Majors was arrested back in March 2023 on assault, strangulation and harassment charges. At the time, the actor was quickly dropped by his management company and public relations firm, as well as from several projects, including a commercial campaign for the United States Army. In December last year, Majors was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment.
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Interestingly, it has been claimed that Marvel did not originally plan to center on Kang until they saw Majors’ performance as He Who Remains in the first season of Loki. Since Majors’ criminal behavior off-screen, Marvel has distanced itself from both the actor and the character, leaving us to wait and see what exactly the plan is for Kang moving forward.
The MCU is currently in Phase Five, with Deadpool & Wolverine currently lighting up both the silver screen and the box office. The rest of the phase includes Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. Marvel’s Phase Six, meanwhile, will introduce The Fantastic Four before culminating in Avengers: Doomsday on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.