Avengers: Doomsday's Doctor Doom Is "Worth Being Scared Of," Russos Say
Hell answers to him, apparently.
Avengers: Doomsday is finally giving Doctor Doom the big-screen treatment fans have wanted for decades. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Robert Downey Jr. and Kevin Feige talked about Marvel's new big bad in a new interview with Empire, and their descriptions make him sound considerably darker than any previous Avengers villain.
"Doom is a Gothic character," Joe Russo told Empire. "He says, 'Hell answers to me,' and he's not kidding." He added that Doom is "not above selling his soul to get what he wants. He's worth being scared of."
Why is Doctor Doom so scary in Avengers: Doomsday?
According to Joe Russo, much of Doom's menace comes from personal tragedy and unresolved grief. "He's a father who's a victim of trauma. He has lost a child," he said. "When people see the film they say it's a very scary movie. It's scary because he's so profoundly damaged."
Anthony Russo also separated Doom from the franchise's previous cosmic villain. "Doom is much more ego-driven than Thanos," he said. "Thanos believed he was serving a greater good."
How does Robert Downey Jr. feel about playing the villain?
Downey spent more than a decade as the MCU's most important hero, so switching sides apparently required some serious adjustment. He compared it to Michael Douglas at the end of Falling Down. "He goes, 'I'm the bad guy?' I had that realisation a couple of days into shooting," Downey said. "And then I leaned in, and it was just this glorious time."
He also offered fans a fairly direct warning about what's coming. "I like a bit of scorched earth," Downey said. "Whatever you think he may be entertaining, I would ten times it, and you'll probably be closer to the ballpark."
Is Doctor Doom a Tony Stark variant?
Kevin Feige says absolutely not, even though plenty of fans assumed otherwise when Downey's casting was announced. "Is Steve Rogers a Johnny Storm variant?" he asked Empire, pointing to Chris Evans playing both heroes. "The answer is no. He's Victor Von Doom."
When does Avengers: Doomsday come out?
Avengers: Doomsday officially arrives in theaters on December 18. Empire's January 2027 issue, with 22 pages of Doomsday coverage and four covers, goes on sale November 19. If you need to catch up first, our Avengers: Doomsday watch order covers what to watch and what to skip.
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My read is that making Doom a grieving father is the smartest choice the Russos could make. A villain who simply wants to rule everything is intimidating for a minute, but a devastated father willing to burn the entire multiverse to undo his loss is much harder to defeat and much harder to hate. If Downey really is playing it ten times bigger than we expect, December 18 can't come soon enough. (Please let him say "Doom" in the third person at least once.)
Are you more excited or nervous about Downey's Doom? Tell us in the comments.
