Downey Jr. on Doctor Doom: "I played the best hero, I can play the best villain"

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Robert Downey Jr. had an iconic response to getting cast in Avengers: Doomsday . The actor, who famously bowed out as Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, was called by Kevin Feige with the news.

"His exact words were: 'I played the best hero, I can play the best villain,'" Feige revealed at the Bilibili World 2026 convention in Shanghai, China. What a response, right?

Now, we can get into an argument about whether or not Iron Man is the "best hero" in the MCU (for what it's worth, I agree), but what's got me most excited is that Downey Jr. thinks Doom will be the "best villain". There have been some iconic baddies in the MCU so far, including Thanos, Ultron, and pre-redeemed Loki.

However, ever since Marvel announced Doom as the next big bad, I've been really excited about how they'll tackle him. Not only is he an iconic comic book villain that we haven't seen on screen before, but casting Downey Jr. in the role is inspired.

We know the Oscar-winner will bring his talent to the role with his ease of navigating between comedy and drama effortlessly. But the fact that he'll share a physical resemblance with Stark, a character who means so much to the other Avengers, is going to add some darkness to this portrayal.

We know it will be addressed too, with the Russos teasing it will be part of the Doomsday storyline. "No better actor in the world than Robert Downey," Joe Russo said about the characters looking the same. "I'm not going to give away anything. It will all make sense when you watch the movies."

Despite Marvel's highs and lows in recent years, I'm really excited to see how this all plays out in the new movie. December 17 can't come soon enough.

For more, check out our guides to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way and how to watch the Marvel movies in order .