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In a new interview published Thursday, Nov. 12, Robert Downey Jr. opened up about his approach to playing a villain in Avengers: Doomsday after spending more than a decade portraying one of Marvel’s most beloved heroes, Iron Man
Downey stars as the movie’s titular villain, Victor Von Doom
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters Dec. 18
Robert Downey Jr. is offering some of his first insights into his approach to playing a masked villain in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
Downey, 61, opened up about his role as Victor Von Doom in an interview with Empire magazine published Thursday, Nov. 12.
The movie marks the first Avengers installment since 2019’s Endgame, as well as Downey’s first appearance in a Marvel movie since his longtime character Tony Stark died in that film’s climactic final battle. The Oscar winner unveiled his casting as Doom during a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024, and anticipation for his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe has only grown since.
“Remember Michael Douglas at the end of Falling Down? He goes, ‘I’m the bad guy?’ I had that realization a couple of days into shooting,” Downey told the outlet, referencing Douglas’ 1993 movie. “Because all the heroes are over there, and I’m the problem. And then I leaned in, and it was just this glorious time.”
Trailers for the upcoming movie tease a dangerous new threat for the Avengers as they face off against Doom, a villain most closely associated with the Fantastic Four in Marvel Comics.
Sir Ian McKellen, who reprises his X-Men role as Magneto in the movie, has suggested multiple times this year that his character helps “destroy New Jersey” in the film, offering a hint at the scale of the destruction to come.
“I like a bit of scorched earth,” Downey told Empire of what audiences can expect from Doom’s villainy. “Whatever you think he may be entertaining, I would ten times it, and you’ll probably be closer to the ballpark.”
Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday
Credit: Marvel
Doomsday is directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, who previously helmed the last two Avengers movies. At San Diego Comic-Con in July, the filmmakers told PEOPLE that Downey came up with his distinctive new accent for Victor Von Doom entirely on his own.
“That was something that Robert surprised us with one day,” Anthony, 56, said. “You know, we were talking about all the details of the character — the voice, of course, is a key part of it, especially in the mask.”
“So one day I think it was in the trailer, we were just sort of talking about some ideas and he broke out into the voice,” he added. “And we knew at that moment, that was it.”
Along with Downey and McKellen, Doomsday brings together the casts of the MCU’s 2025 movies The Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts, as well as franchise veterans Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Simu Liu.
The late Patrick Stewart also reprises his role as the X-Men‘s Charles Xavier in what will be his final film appearance. Fellow X-Men alumni Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, Kelsey Grammer and James Marsden are also returning to their roles from the superhero franchise’s earlier films.
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Robert Downey Jr. in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame
Credit: Marvel/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Channing Tatum also joins the cast as Gambit, a character he finally brought to the screen in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine years after his planned solo movie was scrapped. (As of Nov. 12, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are officially credited as writers who contributed material to Doomsday, raising the possibility that they could reprise their roles as Deadpool and Wolverine, too.)
Avengers: Doomsday is in theaters Dec. 18.
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