But when social media was going berserk over this bombshell, my first reaction to this was ‘Why?’ I just couldn’t wrap my head around this casting choice and had a mixture of disappointment and anger.  It felt like a desperate attempt by Marvel to revive their cinematic universe and the interest of their fandom. It seems like a Hail Mary in response to their recent critical and commercial failures in their movies and TV shows.

RDJ has already played Iron Man, arguably the most significant character in MCU history. That face has been so symbolic of our favourite comic book-movie franchise, which is all the more reason they shouldn’t have cast him as Doom. It just feels weird to see that face portraying a different character in the same continuation of MCU. And the character he will be portraying is not a side character of a fun cameo. He will be playing Victor Von Doom, one of the most terrifying and major villains in Marvel comics.

There’s no doubt that Downey Jr. is a great actor and can pull off any role with great conviction. He was magnificent in playing the antagonist in his Oscar-winning performance in Oppenheimer. It’s always a great pleasure to see RDJ on screen. So ideally I should have been happy watching him come back to one of my favourite movie series, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. 

Before the comic nerds come after me, I want to say that I am sure there might be multiple versions and variations in the comics where Tony Stark being Doctor Doom absolutely makes sense. It is rumored that the movies could have derived from the Infamous Iron Man storyline. However, my skepticism is not about all the technicalities or my nostalgia, rather it is about the impact RDJ as Iron Man in the MCU had on people and probably the greed of the MCU.

The time I realised what Tony Stark actually meant to the masses was while watching Avengers: Endgame. It was on the first day first show of the movie in a theater of a tier-three city and the scene where Tony snapped his finger and said the famous “I am… Iron Man” line was playing. I heard some noises from the back row and when I turned around, I saw a person with teary eyes literally praying for Tony’s life. This was the bond RDJ had forged with the fans with his portrayal of Iron Man. Yes, the superhero was fictional, but the loss felt real.

Marvel had already teased Tony’s death I still remember the sigh I heard when Thanos stabbed Tony in Infinity War. The audience almost felt the grief before Dr. Strange brought him back. We all knew the end was coming. We all had made up our minds and accepted it in Endgame. Why bring that same face again and make him one of the most important characters? 

It seems like a missed opportunity, to build Doom as a character over the movies as they did with Thanos. But RDJ’s face would always seem distracting when he would be playing this iconic villain. Marvel might just pull out their ‘variants’ card in this scenario as well, which has been their explanation for everything. Even if they decide to go the Rocket Racoon or Groot route and don’t show RDJ’s face (as Dr. Doom never puts down his mask), it would still feel a bit off. With the introduction of the multiverse and time travel in the MCU, the timelines and universe already feel too discombobulated. 

Most projects in the MCU after Endgame have been underwhelming and haven’t brought the dream box-office numbers Marvel had become used to. Repeated resurrections of the characters have made the stakes extremely low and the fans now care way less about characters. Rather than building interesting characters with new actors, they are now trying to cash in on nostalgia.

However, one always expects great things from Marvel. They made people care about Ant-Man. When they picked Spider-Man and made a great movie, my friend group used to say, “Just give it to Marvel and they will make it awesome.” When other studios were making borderline boring superhero cinema with their formulaic nature, Marvel made superheroes fun again.

Movies like Deadpool and Wolverine and Spider: No Way Home are testaments to Marvel having duniya bhar ka paisa and they could just cast anyone and everyone in their projects. Though I had great fun in the theaters watching these two movies, I kept asking myself whether I cared about these characters anymore. I understand fan service, but your story has to have an impact on its own.

Dear Marvel, the end gives meaning to existence. You know I would still buy the first-day first-show tickets to your movies. We know you are capable of bringing all the dead characters back, we know you can cast anyone in any role you wish to. But please do it for the sake of the story, not to resurrect your box-office numbers and just because you can.