‘This was the wrong choice’: Robert Downey Jr. breaks his silence on why he’s back to play Doctor Doom, but Marvel fans wish he’d kept quiet

Remember when Marvel Studios managed to upstage Deadpool & Wolverine, the biggest movie of the year, on its opening weekend by revealing that Robert Downey Jr. was coming back to the MCU to play Doctor Doom? Yeah, that was weird. Ironically, just like that Ryan Reynolds movie, while it got people talking, not everyone talking about it had nice things to say.

On paper, bringing back the Iron Man icon as one of Marvel’s most legendary villains must’ve seemed like a win-win scenario, but Marvel may have underestimated the fandom’s ability to find fault with every storytelling decision made in the Multiverse Saga. Many view Downey’s (re)casting as a shameless attempt to recapture the franchise’s bygone glory days by throwing a unique and beloved character under the bus.

That viewpoint has only been cemented following Downey offering his first words since his Comic-Con unmasking about why he elected to make the surprise move back to the Marvel multiverse.

“[Feige said] how can we not go backwards, how do we not disappoint expectations, how we can continue to beat expectations,” Downey told The Hollywood Reporter when recalling the meeting with the studio president that convinced him to take the title role in Avengers: Doomsday. “Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.”

Unfortunately, Downey’s words are now being thrown back in his face over and over again online. Luckily, he’s got a metal mask to protect himself.

One big problem some fans have with the Downey-Doom debacle is that it keeps a fresh talent — possibly even an actor of Romani descent — from getting their spot in the limelight.

“This was the wrong choice,” boldly declared one reply. Premature? Maybe, but it’s how a lot of folks are feeling.

Others are theorizing that Downey’s meeting with Feige is just a big fat fib to cover up Kevin’s casting goof. What if… he meant to call Cillian Murphy instead but when RDJ answered he just rolled with it?

Officially, we won’t get to see Downey’s Victor Von Doom in the flesh metal until Doomsday comes on May 1, 2026. However, the odds are high that he may sneak himself into July 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps somewhere. Maybe then everyone will get on board with the casting, but for the moment not all are convinced this Victor is a victory.