Is Robert Downey Jr. really in talks to play Marvel’s Doctor Doom?

Despite recent struggles (which may become a thing of the past a week from now), it’s still hard to deny that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the densest and most expansive film canons out there. Even when it ends up sinking to the depths of Quantumania, the mythology evolves greatly nevertheless.

However, even the MCU’s scope pails in comparison to the Marvel Cinematic Universe Rumor Mill, whose many branching paths and reckless adherence to unreliability make for a world that is neither easy to keep up with nor worth keeping up with.

So, when @MyTimeToShineH drops a gonzo scuttlebutt that Robert Downey Jr. himself is in talks to suit up as Doctor Doom for Avengers: Secret Wars, you’d best not even spare a grain of salt, pepper, paprika, or any other spice for such a thing.

Is it true that the (much more substantiated) report of the Russo brothers’ return to the MCU makes the possibility of Downey Jr. more likely? Yeah, probably, but not only is this rumor a gross reach, but it would also be one of the most notoriously tacky roads the MCU could possibly go down.

Bringing back Downey Jr. would be cheap, sugary fan service through and through. And even insofar as such a thing admittedly has a place in this massive comic book franchise, there’s no way in all the Nine Hells that Marvel would ever let us know about it before the release of Secret Wars (certainly not years before). That would defeat the point of hyping the film up with Downey Jr.-flavored fan service in the first place.

So no, there’s no such evidence that Downey Jr. is coming back as Doctor Doom for Secret Wars, nor is it even confirmed that Doctor Doom is the villain for that movie. Get this “rumor” out of my face.

What my face will welcome, however, is the very real movie of Deadpool & Wolverine, which hits theaters on July 26.