Doomsday’ Wont Let Down Marvel Fans

Robert Downey Jr. can’t say much about “Avengers: Doomsday,” the upcoming Marvel tentpole that reintroduces him to the franchise as the villainous Doctor Doom, but he is assuring comic book movie fans that it will live up to the hype. Speaking to CBR alongside co-director Joe Russo, the Oscar winner said the movie “landed in a place that I think will more than suffice” for fans.

“And it’s not even about how I executed it,” Downey added. “It’s about the way it’s been structured, and the other characters. There’s something going on in ‘Doomsday’ and forward that is literally the only antidote to: How do you not have these films be let down after an ‘Infinity War’ and an ‘Endgame?’ And boy, have we labored long and hard to bring that down.”

Of course, Downey could not reveal what that thing in “Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” is. Joe Russo said “there are a lot of surprises” in the new movie, adding: “I think [‘Doomsday’] is the most emotionally complex of all of them. And in a lot of ways, the most mature of all of them.”

“There’s an incredible amount of gratitude we have going into these two,” Downey also noted. “One epic at a time. ‘Doomsday’… just the gratitude to be able to do it. To still be engaging with people who are critical when we fall short, but who understand how difficult it is when we get it right.”

Downey’s villain debut in “Doomsday” follows his tenure playing the superhero Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character exited in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” after which Marvel’s track record got bumpy with blockbusters (“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Deadpool vs. Wolverine”) and flops (“The Marvels,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”) alike.

“Avengers: Doomsday” opens in theaters Dec. 18 from Disney and Marvel Studios.