Robert Downey Jr. Is Marvel’s New Doctor Doom: NPR

At San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, Marvel Studios announced that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in two upcoming films, Avengers: Judgment Day And Avengers: Secret Warsboth directed by the Russo brothers.

The radical change: RDJ won’t be playing Tony Stark/Iron Man, the very dead center of the MCU; instead, he’ll be trying out for the role of legendary villain Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom in the Marvel Comics universe.

There’s every reason to doubt, given the current state of the MCU (read: a frothy soup of universes, timelines, variants, and replicants simmering together over medium-high heat), that there’s a logical narrative reason for the studio to turn to the man who played Iron Man to play Doctor Doom, and that said reason goes deeper than “Hey look, they both have metal masks!”

It will come as no surprise that fans of the game took to the internet to voice their opinions on the announcement. Some were optimistic, while many complained that it represented a creative step backwards—nothing more than Marvel’s defensive multiplatform IP production mechanism.

You and I, the reader, can leave it to others to express their exaggerated reactions to what is at this stage merely a casting announcement. We, on the other hand, will deal with this news in a more methodical manner.

stark contrast

If you’re old enough to remember when Robert Downey Jr. was announced as Tony Stark (And You were obsessed enough at the time to know who Tony Stark was, and you’ll remember having only one reaction: Well, who? turn.

The similarities between Downey and Stark—the swagger, the sarcasm, the public history of drug abuse—made the pairing seem obvious, perfect, even inevitable in a way. The sycophantic wedge found its place in the sarcasm. And everything that came after—the quick-witted chatter, the mutual references, the unbearable charm, the slick chin—helped establish and grow the MCU.

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.

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Now let’s move on to last weekend’s announcement. I would argue that the collective reaction we’re seeing at this particular cultural moment is not “OK, please, please.” turn“And more than “wait, What now?”

There’s a reason for that, and it has to do with the character of Doctor Doom himself. Robert Downey Jr. takes on Tony Stark like a soft suede driving glove.

By contrast, Robert Downey Jr. plays Victor Von Doom like a box of crayons plays an industrial hydraulic press. We know what happens next will be dramatic and colorful, yes. But that’s not the best use of those crayons, SomebodyWe’ll have to spend hours cleaning up this damn press.

Don’t get me wrong: Downey, as an actor, is more than Stark. He’s played Charlie Chaplin, he’s played Sherlock Holmes, and he recently won an Oscar for playing Lewis Strauss, a politician who doesn’t look anything like Tony.

But there is still such a thing as an actor’s public persona, and how well it fits into a certain pre-defined character. Or in this case, how amazing Not much.

Because Victor Von Doom, as he appears in the comics, is a malicious, vengeful, power-hungry tyrant who dreams of nothing but conquest. He’s not that, he’s not that.

He doesn’t tend to utter obscure profanities or urge his colleagues to work with pop-culture references at the level of the Associated Press. He’s not arrogant, he’s not lazy, he’s not the kind of guy you’d call “nice,” and you wouldn’t imagine him cradling a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

No, Doctor Doom, the Supreme Ruler of Latveria, stands erect, his feet always spread well beyond shoulder width. He can often be found with a fist or two in the air in front of him (which his tight-lipped nature prevents him from drinking whiskey). He tends to bark short, declarative phrases. “Damns!” “Bah!” “Foolish idiot!” “Kneel!” “Kneel you foolish idiot!” That sort of thing.

Oh, and he refers to himself in the third person. That’s a very Doom thing.

But let’s try to approach this news from an analytical, unemotional distance.

Below, I will list some actual classic quotes from Doctor Doom taken directly from the comics. Our task will be to determine how easily we can imagine these quotes being delivered by the beloved and award-winning actor, Mr. Robert Downey Jr.

We’ll use a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is “No, sorry, I can’t remotely imagine” and 10 is “No hard feelings, point of departure; you got a solid hit.“.”

Robert Downey Jr. wears a Doctor Doom mask at Comic-Con.

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How easy it is to imagine RDJ saying…

“You idiots! Such impudence will not go unpunished!” – Amazing stories Volume 1, 4

The arrogance fits, but the vocabulary certainly doesn’t. “Idiot” is a very basic insult; RDJ is sure to add a pop culture twist to it. stupid and stupider“Maybe, but even then, it seems far-fetched.

Three out of 10.

“The Mighty Avengers! Bah!” – Super villains team Volume 1, 9

Whichever way you want to interpret it, “Bah!” is just a really hard sentiment to express with a serious face these days. (And that’s a shame!) And RDJ’s default setting of sarcastic detachment certainly won’t help in that endeavor.

Two out of 10.

“Only Dom dares to dream! All others serve!” – Iron Man Volume 1, 102

What harsh words. So harsh that it was hard to believe they came from such a charming, chatty con man.

Two out of 10.

“This game will soon come to its inevitable end – and the final victory will be Doctor Doom’s!” – Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comic Book Volume 1, 3

Again, it’s not about the emotion itself, but the sophisticated, arch language in which it’s couched. RDJ doesn’t say “should” when “will” would suffice.

Four out of 10.

“Yes! Fate and destiny will be done – in heaven as on earth!” – Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 6, 17

I can’t imagine RDJ coming out and declaring his intentions directly. Where’s the side charm, the flirting, the charming wit? There’s a lot of swagger in the quote — too much, I would say — but swagger needs to be backed up with charisma to work. Now, RDJ arguably has buckets and buckets of charisma. So I don’t know. Maybe under a very specific set of circumstances, he could pull it off?

Five out of 10?

“You fools! I am Doom the Destroyer! I have shattered worlds to mock you! I have shattered universes to mock you! I have taken what is yours and made it mine! Confront me at your own risk, if you dare to confront me at all!” – New Avengers Volume 3, 33

Okay, I mean, “stupid!” is a bit less old-fashioned than “stupid!” but not by much. This saying is just a schadenfreude chant, and while you can certainly imagine RDJ ignoring you in a bar, he wouldn’t do it quite so rudely.

One in 10.