I"ve Worked Out Exactly Why The MCU"s New Thanos Replacement Is Perfect

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Summary

RDJ's return as Doctor Doom after defeating Thanos as Iron Man is poetically cyclical, with Doom likely set to become the Multiverse Saga's biggest villain just as the Mad Titan was in the Infinity Saga.
RDJ is effectively dying as the hero, while also living long enough to become the villain at the same time in the MCU.
Casting RDJ as Doctor Doom helps Marvel get back on track following post-Infinity Saga missteps, inheriting Thanos' previous role as an overarching big bad for the current Multiverse Saga.

I've worked out exactly why the MCU's new Thanos replacement is so perfect. Having been announced as San Diego Comic-Con 2024, it's been revealed that Robert Downey Jr. has been cast as the leading antagonist Doctor Doom for Avengers: Doomsday. This is a role that will likely continue with the following Avengers: Secret Wars and may even begin earlier with Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, there's a single core reason why RDJ as Doom works so well as a replacement for Thanos in the MCU.
Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga began with 2008's Iron Man and ended with 2019's Avengers: Endgame (Spider-Man: Far From Home being an epilogue). Thanos the Mad Titan (Josh Brolin) served as the overarching villain who came to the forefront in Avengers: Infinity War to claim the Infinity Stones and erase half of all life in the universe. However, Thanos and his forces were defeated in Avengers: Endgame by Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man following the Avengers' Battle of Earth. As such, there's some prime poetry at work now that RDJ is returning to play Doctor Doom for the culmination of the current Multiverse Saga.

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2 RDJ's Iron Man Defeated Thanos, Now He's The MCU's Doctor Doom Dying As The Hero AND Becoming The Villain Close Robert Downey Jr. coming back as Doctor Doom is a remarkable case of dying as the hero but ALSO living long enough to become the villain. It's a twist on a concept that originally came from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, which many have attributed to this surprising Marvel casting. As Robert Downey Jr. himself said after removing his Doctor Doom mask on stage at SDCC: "New mask, same task", the same task being his return to the MCU to help lead the franchise forward (though this time as a major villain rather than a hero).
Additionally, the fact that RDJ's Iron Man was the one who ultimately defeated Thanos in Endgame makes this casting all the more intriguing and extremely poetic. The MCU's Thanos replacement is the very same actor who played the hero who defeated the Mad Titan himself. It's all very cyclical, one that makes Doctor Doom even more exciting as RDJ is likely to inherit the same kind of overarching villain role that Thanos had in the Infinity Saga.
Why RDJ Was A Great Choice For The MCU's Next Major Villain RDJ Can Lead The Franchise Once Again

Admittedly, the MCU's Multiverse Saga has certainly had more missteps compared to the preceding Infinity Saga. For every major success like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine, there are a handful of projects that have significantly underperformed. This is why casting Robert Downey Jr. makes so much sense for Marvel Studios in this current era to help get them back on track. He's already proven his ability as an actor to lead the MCU, it's just that this time around it will be from the side of the villains as the MCU's next big bad after Thanos.

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Not Yet Rated AdventureSuperheroAction Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom - played by the returning Robert DOwney Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton Release Date May 1, 2026 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Distributor(s) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Writers Michael Waldron Cast Kathryn Newton , Iman Vellani , Mark Ruffalo , Hailee Steinfield , Anthony Mackie , Benedict Wong , Simu Liu , Benedict Cumberbatch , Dominique Thorne , Xochitl Gomez , Chris Hemsworth , Brie Larson Franchise(s) The Avengers prequel(s) The Amazing Spider-Man , Shang-Chi 2 , Captain America , Captain Marvel , Daredevil , Ant-Man and the Wasp Budget $356–400 million Expand Upcoming MCU Movies Captain America: Brave New World
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Release Date May 1, 2026 Avengers: Secret Wars
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