Marvel fans will easily remember the death of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. It turns out any tears shed were wasted, as the actor is returning for the next two films—the first of which, Avengers: Doomsday, is scheduled for release in December this year. Marvel president Kevin Feige explained that RDJ, 61, “is ingrained in the fabric of the MCU,” and thus was always considered for a return if the stars aligned. It seems the stars did align—this time, however, RDJ will be taking on a much more antagonistic role. “We hit on this idea maybe three, three-and-a-half years ago about bringing Doctor Doom to the screen and needing to find the greatest actor possible to do it,” he said of the post-death recasting. Feige’s message to naysayers is clear: “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.”
