Why Robert Downey Jr. Is The Wrong Casting Choice For Doctor Doom

Marvel

Aug 15

Robert Downey Jr. was announced as the new Doctor Doom at the San Diego Comic-Con in dramatic fashion with an onstage reveal. But is this the exciting news that Marvel seems to think it is?

Robert Downey Jr. is a talented performer with a proven track record in the MCU, he has fronted the Iron Man franchise and led several Avengers films. His name on a poster is a guaranteed box office draw and no one is doubting he has the gravitas for Doom. But there are a few major problems with his casting that could tank the character before it’s begun.

If Robert Downey Jr. Is playing Victor Von Doom

Robert Downey Jr. draws from the same ethnicity as Victor Von Doom who was born to parents escaping Mephisto in Eastern Europe (Downey Jr’s Father is half-Lithuanian). But on Earth 616, Victor Von Doom attended college with Reed Richards, who has been cast as Pedro Pascal, a full ten years younger than Robert Downey Jr. As good as the former Iron Man looks for his age, Pascal doesn’t look like he knows the meaning of the word ‘wrinkle’. It’s going to take some serious CGI to make these two men look like they belong in the same set of dorms.

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Pedro and Robert — Image Source: CultureSlate

Why does this matter? What effect will it have on the storytelling if there’s a teensy age gap when Robert Downey Jr. is going to be wearing a mask? But is he though?

In the comics, under normal circumstances, Victor is described as classically handsome. Doom’s face is scarred from an explosion of his own creation (blamed on Reed Richards) but there are frequent attempts to heal it, and there are storylines in the MCU where Doom is successful (eg the Battleworld Beyonder series). Downey Jr. will be 60 by the time the movie shoots, which means that it’s impossible for us to have any stories where he is healed. Including Infamous Iron Man. Downey Jr. is a very handsome man in his age bracket. He gives Sean Connery vibes. But unless Marvel decides to CGI his face we won't be getting Victor Von Doom’s origin story either.

If it’s A Multiverse Variant Of Doom

There are one or two comics where Tony Stark shared a dorm room with Richards instead of Victor Von Doom, and he turned to evil. The problem is, this isn’t really Doom. It's Doom Lite, a way to crowbar Iron Man back into the MCU even though his story has been flogged to death. Tony Stark and Doom are very different people. Tony is an engineer and weapons manufacturer. Doom is a King, a head of state who his people revere as a God. He works with magic as well as science. And let’s not forget his mommy issues. Just because the comic book Infamous Iron Man sold a few issues, it does not make them any more interchangeable. If Marvel is planning on a Doom redemption arch, using the Infamous Iron Man graphic novel as a template, it makes no sense to do this unless we have first seen the villain.

Doctor Doom comic — Image Source: Movie Comics Who’s Who

With a movie titled Avengers: Doomsday it’s hoped that Robert Downey Jr. will portray a menacing Doom rather than a camp Stark hybrid. But Robert Downey Jr. is a comedy specialist, even when playing roles like Tony Stark, he improvs and puts his own spin onto characters making them unique and flamboyant. It’s been a long time since he’s played anything like Doom. The last time he did horror was Gothika and it was universally panned.

This casting could be construed as lazy by Marvel. There is no shortage of actors in Hollywood that could have taken on the mask. But it feels like Marvel was thinking of the marketing campaign rather than the script when the contracts were signed. If they put out a poor movie, this could backfire on everyone concerned. Fans won’t tolerate Doom being thrown away after one movie if the experiment doesn’t work. They’ve waited too long.