Robert Downey Jr. was perhaps one of the most loved actors from the Marvel universe and from the ‘Avengers’ franchise. His character Iron Man and his death in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ was met with a lot of emotional response. Thus, the announcement of his return as a new character in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ was a big surprise and a moment of celebration for fans. Recently the team behind the upcoming superhero film shared the experience of having the iconic actor back, but in a villainous role this time around.
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ team on casting Robert Downey Jr.
While talking to Entertainment Weekly, Kevin Feige, the president of the studios behind the Marvel universe, opened up about how the possibility of the ‘Iron Man’ actor’s return was never in the cards. During his interview he revealed that even after ‘Endgame’, they were in touch with the actor for the longest time for possible future roles.While Iron Man dies in ‘Endgame’, making his return not a feasible option, he was instead cast in a completely contrasting role. “He is ingrained in the fabric of the MCU for obvious reasons, and we would talk about when and how and if there could be a return,” Feige shared. The planning for his return started 3 and a half years ago.He revealed that the team at the studio was planning on bringing the most iconic villain in MCU, Dr Victor Von Doom to the big screen, and felt that Downey was the perfect option for that. Further adding context as to why he was cast, Feige added, “At the time, (Downey) was on his way to winning the Academy Award for Oppenheimer and there was every story about ‘the greatest actor in the world,’ and we thought, ‘This could be it. Let’s do it. It’s our universe. It’s a multiverse. We can do whatever the heck we want. He played the most iconic hero. Let’s have him play the most iconic villain.’”‘Avengers: Doomsday’ will be released in theaters in December this year. The cast includes Chris Evans, who will be reprising his role as Captain America for the first time since ‘Endgame.’ Other people include the ensemble from ‘Avengers’, ‘Black Panther’, ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, ‘Thunderbolts*/New Avengers’, ‘The Fantastic Four’, and the original ‘X-Men.’
