When will Avengers: Doomsday be released?: Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU

At the end of “Loki” season 2, Khan’s role in the MCU seemed to be diminished as Tom Hiddleston’s titular anti-hero rewrote the timeline, creating an easy way to eliminate him as the main villain.

Now, Marvel has pivoted to cast Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. While Downey Jr. won’t be the first actor to play multiple characters in the MCU, he will be the first to play two major characters.

The answer to how this is possible lies in the multiverse – different interconnected dimensions/timelines.

Recent Marvel projects have introduced fans to alternate versions of heroes from other universes, including Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

So Downey Jr.’s Doom could very well be from an alternate universe to distinguish him from Iron Man — and the villain does wear a metal mask, after all.

Doom is the Fantastic Four’s main enemy in the comics, and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has already confirmed that the team’s film, Fantastic Four: The First Step, is set in an alternate universe, where perhaps Tony Stark never got the chance to step up as a hero and chose a darker path.

The comics have also featured versions of Iron Man who transformed into Doom, most famously in 2010’s “What If? Iron Man: Demon in an Armor #1,” in which a young Victor Von Doom swapped bodies with a young Stark.

Doom himself took over the role of Iron Man in the Iron Man series in 2016, so there is precedent for the two identities blending together.

Even if the villain does come from an alternate universe, Marvel Studios could still cast another version of Doom in the main MCU on Earth-616 if they want someone to take over the role in the future.

Opinion online has been divided over Downey Jr.’s return, with many criticizing Marvel Studios for leaning on nostalgia and playing it too safe with its casting choices.

But Rob Mitchell, director of theatre at Gower Street Analytics, told Business Insider that bringing him and the Russo brothers back was the logical decision.

“People will think, ‘That’s interesting. What are they doing? I have to see that, even if just to get an opinion on why,’ and I get it from a business perspective, but I don’t see the downside to it,” he said.

Mitchell added: “I’m sure fans had high hopes for an Avengers movie, and of course this is a pre-‘Secret Wars’ Avengers movie.”

Mitchell noted that curiosity about Downey’s roles in “Doomsday” and “Secret Wars” will draw people in, particularly interested to see if the actor changes his look.

“Will he look like Tony Stark or will they do something to make him look different? This is Hollywood, so there’s a lot of makeup. There’s a lot of Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine, and not everyone looks the same.”

Downey Jr.’s casting comes amid discussion about whether audiences are growing tired of the superhero genre, and while it’s not a new concern, Mitchell noted that MCU fatigue isn’t what’s alienating fans.

“Can we really talk about MCU fatigue when Deadpool just made $430 million in four days? This is the second R-rated movie projected to make $1 billion, and it’s clearly heading in that direction, so we can talk about MCU fatigue after that,” he said.

Michael Waldron, who wrote the screenplay for Loki, is set to write the screenplays for both Avengers movies, meaning the film will likely be linked to the franchise.

Loki, What If, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania have warned that interactions between the multiverses could lead to inter-universe wars or even conflict between universes.

Though Khan is no longer Marvel’s big bad, the collision between these different worlds is likely to be just as big a threat as what the Avengers face in the next two films.

Marvel seems to be adapting two big events from Marvel Comics, “Time Runs Out” and “Secret Wars,” in 2015 and 2016. In this comic series written by Jonathan Hickman, the multiverse is dying because an alien race called the Beyonders have created a living bomb to wipe out everything.

An attempt to kill the Living Bomb leads to the collision of multiple Earths in these universes, obliterating both universes. The Beyonders’ plan succeeds, but Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange and Molecule Man kill the alien race, stripping them of their powers and creating a new world with Doom as the god of the world.

Other heroes survive the destruction using a special life raft machine, escape, defeat Doom, and rebuild the universe.

The invasion has already been mentioned in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and while its effects are the same as in the comic books, its cause is a prolonged journey through the multiverse.

Something will likely happen before or during Avengers: Doomsday that will begin an incursion into the MCU’s main universe and lead to a battle between multiple worlds, so fans may see a character from one of the other worlds make a cameo in the film besides Downey Jr.’s Doom.

Since Avengers: Endgame, many of the main heroes from previous movies have retired or died, so new heroes may be introduced in the next movie.

Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) will take over as the new Captain America along with his partner Falcon (Danny Ramirez), and they will lead the new Avengers alongside other notable characters such as Doctor Stranger (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).

Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) will likely be helping out the Avengers team, having already faced off against the multiverse threat that is Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania.

The original Guardians of the Galaxy disbanded after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but a new team could appear, consisting of Groot (Vin Diesel), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Cosmo (Maria Bakalova), Blurp, Phylla (Kai Zeng), and Adam Warlock (Will Poulter).

It’s unclear what Marvel plans to do with Black Panther and Wakanda, but it’s likely they’ll work together in some capacity, along with Namor and Atlantis (Tenoc Huerta).

In recent movies, Marvel has introduced several new characters, including the Eternals, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, Deadpool, and Shang-Chi, who are likely to appear in movies at some point.

The only actors Marvel has confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday are members of the casts of the upcoming films Fantastic Four: The First Step and Thunderbolts.

Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss Bacharach, “The Fantastic Four” follows a group of astronauts who gain incredible powers after a mission goes wrong.

Meanwhile, Thunderbolts will feature a group of assassins and spies that fans have met from previous films and TV shows, all working together on a mission.

The cast includes Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Elena (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and Valentina Allegra De Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Lewis Pullman will also star as new hero, The Sentry.