Tag: MCU Movies

  • ‘Scream’ Franchise Star Rumored to Be Joining the MCU in Major Mutant Role

    ‘Scream’ Franchise Star Rumored to Be Joining the MCU in Major Mutant Role

    Fox’s X-Men: Days of Future Past stands as one of the studio’s strongest efforts in brining Marvel’s mutant heroes to the big screen, merging the talent from the original films with the First Class stars in a surprisingly satisfying film. Though the continuity reset provided by the film was largely ignored by Fox in its subsequent films, it’s possible it opened up the perfect avenue for Marvel Studios to work the OG big screen X-Men into the MCU.

    When Logan returns to his new present day, he finds that all the friends he’d lost along the way are alive and well in the new timeline. While it hasn’t been confirmed yet, that timeline may well be the one in which Monica Rambeau found herself stranded following the events of The Marvels. If that’s the case, it’s clear much has changed there as Lashana Lynch‘s Binary is see hanging out with Beast. Whatever the case, a significant amount of time has passed since Logan’s return which means that in that universe, the X-Men have had time to add and subtract from their roster of heroes. Now, a new rumor suggests an X-Man never before seen on the big screen maybe joining their ranks.

    According to social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, Scream franchise star Neve Campbell has been cast as Lorna Dane, the mutant known as Polaris.

    The daughter of Magneto, Polaris has been an X-Man and a member of X-Factor and would make for a very interesting addition to the mix given she has often drifted into some dark places over the years.

    While some outlets are assuming Campbell has been cast for Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot, it seems far more likely at this point that, if the rumor is accurate, she has been cast for Avengers: Doomsday. With production already underway on Doomsday and most of Fox’s original X-Men cast reprising their roles in the project, an older Polaris (Campbell is 51 years old) seems a better fit in that universe than one created from scratch by Marvel for their reboot.

  • ‘Thunderbolts*’ Writer Reveals the Film Originally Had an Entirely Different Big Bad

    ‘Thunderbolts*’ Writer Reveals the Film Originally Had an Entirely Different Big Bad

    Lewis Pullman‘s performance as Bob/Sentry/The Void has been roundly praised following the opening weekend of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* The New Avengers. And while Bob will indeed be back for more in Avengers: Doomsday, it turns out he was originally not part of the film, leaving the Thunderbolts to teamnup against an entirely different antagonist.

    The original drafts of this had John Walker as the punching villain at the end,” said Pearson. “The idea was that part of Val’s manipulation was that she had told him that his serum was wearing off, and she was doing these medications to keep him going,” added the writer. Given Walker’s fragile mental state, it’s easy to imagine Val working U.S. Agent into a frenzy to do her dirty work.

    In reality, he was a time bomb; a Hulk kind of thing. There was going to be a bit of a ‘Sun’s getting real low’ moment because from the beginning of this, it was like, “I want to end our third act fight with a hug.

    -Eric Pearson

    Fortunately, Marvel and Pearson made a decision to head in another direction, choosing Bob as the subject of Val’s manipulative machinations, leaving the team up against a foe they could never take on physically. “That version was kind of fun, but ultimately didn’t work and didn’t feel right tone-wise,” he explained. “I had already kind of layered in the whole Breakfast Club thing, so I was like, ‘I want someone that they can’t beat in a punching fight and that they have to connect to in an emotional way.’

    While Val is the film’s true baddie, she would pose no threat to any of the team of Thunderbolts without someone else there to do the heavy lifting. While Walker might have made for an interesting punching bag, he’d have truly stood no chance against a pair of Super-Soldiers teaming up with Ghost and Yelena. Moving away from Walker to The Void is just one example of the very positive changes made to the script during the pre-production process that allowed it to become one of the studio’s best films in the past several years.

    Source: Screen Rant

  • Marvel Studios Begins Unprecedented Wave of Marketing Madness for ‘Thunderbolts*’

    Marvel Studios Begins Unprecedented Wave of Marketing Madness for ‘Thunderbolts*’

    Long before Thunderbolts* hit theaters, fans had plenty of theories about the asterisk added to the film’s title in early 2024. At the time, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, made it clear that the studio would not address the change until after the movie hit theaters. That time is now and the studio is addressing it in an unprecedented way.

    Yes, you’ll notice the asterisk on Thunderbolts. That is the official title of Thunderbolts and we won’t talk more about that until after the movie comes out.

    -Kevin Feige

    Following the film’s very solid opening weekend in which it pulled in $162.1 M globally ($76 M domestic, $86.1 M overseas) and managed to secure an A- Cinemascore, the studio has begun a bold marketing move that officially reveals the meaning behind the asterisk.

    In the film’s third act, the film’s titular team of lonely losers are introduced to the press as The New Avengers after saving New York City from The Void. It’s a move made solely to allow Valentina Allegra de Fontaine to save face but as the film’s post-credit tag reveals, the team is still active as Avengers 14 months later.

    Retitling a film after release, even unofficially, isn’t something Marvel Studios has dabbled with in the past and it remains to be seen just how serious the studio is about the change. It appears, however, they’ve invested at least some capital in a second wave of marketing the film as The New Avengers begging the question if the film will indeed be rebranded for digital and home release.

  • ‘Thunderbolts*’ Director Confirms Major Changes to the Film’s Original Script

    ‘Thunderbolts*’ Director Confirms Major Changes to the Film’s Original Script

    Rewrites, reshoots and additional photography have become routine partsof the Marvel Studios production machine. It’s safe to say that no two projects undergo the same amount of changes and that they’re not always all-encompassing nor always favorable.

    Both Captain America: Brave New World and Daredevil: Born Again were significantly reworked following the 2023 Hollywood work stoppages to varying degrees of success. Brave New World reshot its first act battle, gave The Leader a concerning makeover and shot a very awkward post-credit scene, none of which were well-received by fans. On the other hand, the creative retooling of Daredevil: Born Again, intended to connect it to the original Netflix series, seemed to please the bloodthirsty legion of edge lords who believe the character should suffer in darkness and misery. However, perhaps no project underwent a more complete overhaul than Thunderbolts*.

    Originally drafted by Eric Pearson as a sequel to Black Widow, the project’s script was handed off to both Joanna Calo and Lee Sung Jin. Typically, it’s never made clear by the studio just how much a script changes from beginning to end; however, director Jake Schreier veered from the norm in an interview with EW, explaining that very little of the film’s original conceit survived.

    According to Schreier, the only big idea from the original script that made it to the big screen was the idea of the mismatched team of damaged people being revealed as the MCU’s New Avengers at the end. The idea was “in the script from the very first draft,” Schreier told EW, adding “Even though a lot of things, almost everything, changed around it.

    There was the core idea of these operatives sent to kill each other, which I thought was such a neat twist on people expecting Marvel’s Suicide Squad,” Schreier explained. “And then that was the ending, and it went to a very different place, but that was the one thing that was like, no matter what we do, it’s going to end in that place.” Whatever the original version may have been, there will be very few fans disappointed with the direction the studio ultimately chose for the film.

  • The ‘Thunderbolts*’Post-Credit Scene Just Became Even More Important to the Future of the MCU

    The ‘Thunderbolts*’Post-Credit Scene Just Became Even More Important to the Future of the MCU

    As is Marvel Studios’ tradition, Thunderbolts* included some additional scenes during the credits. Though the first scene featuring David Harbour‘s Red Guardian was played for laughs, the second scene jumped 14 months into the MCU’s future, providing a look at the New Avengers regrouping at The Watchtower. Unlike several of the studio’s post-credit scenes, this one felt important, providing information about Captain America and his team of Avengers while also teasing the arrival of the Fantastic Four on Earth-616. Yelena’s New Avengers were decked out in new uniforms, including Bucky sporting a new star logo very reminiscent of the one his character recently sported in the pages of Marvel Comics as The Revolution, and were just learning about a “space crisis,” which is almost certainly an Incursion.

    TL:DR, the 2-minute and 54-second scene is doing a lot of table setting for Avengers: Doomsday and it turns out that’s because it was filmed by the directors of the upcoming Marvel project.

    In an interview with Comic Book, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier revealed that the post-credit scene was filmed on the set of Avengers: Doomsday while strongly hinting that Joe and Anthony Russo were behind the camera for it.

    So a couple things about that. I didn’t film that scene. I was there when it was filmed and I can say that it comes from the set of a production that might be starting production right around now. So that might be fun for people to stay and watch.

    -Jake Schreier

    The knowledge that the Russos filmed the scene adds a little extra weight to the information contained within. Too frequently, the studio’s stingers are poorly thought out and following up on them becomes the problem of “the next guy.” Since the Russos directed this and are “the next guys,” this scene can more or less be thought of as part of Avengers: Doomsday, which we can safely assume begins a year and two months after the events of Thunderbolts*, set in 2027. With that, we now know that the next Avengers film will be set in 2028, keeping the MCU timeline ahead of the real world by a couple of years.

    Thunderbolts* is now in theaters and Avengers: Doomsday is now in production ahead of its May 1, 2026 release.

  • ‘Thunderbolts*’: Explaining the Film’s Two Credit Cookies

    ‘Thunderbolts*’: Explaining the Film’s Two Credit Cookies

    Marvel Studios took a chance with Thunderbolts* but all signs point toward the film, directed by Jake Schreier, opening to a solid weekend at the box office following very positive reviews by critics. With the surviving members of the eclectic group of anti-heroes already confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, it looks like the Thunderbolts are here to stay…at least in the short term. But in what capacity?

    As explained here, following the team’s battle against The Void–the omnipotent dark shadow of Lewis Pullman‘s Sentry–Julia Louis-Dreyfus Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who is facing impeachment charges, saves face by introducing the group as The New Avengers…and Bob. With that big reveal, the 2-hour and 6-minute run time of Thunderbolts* draws to a close but, as audiences have come to expect from Marvel Studios’ projects, there’s more in store for those who stick around for the credits.

    Mid-Credits

    Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 MARVEL.

    The film’s Mid-Credits scene features David Harbour‘s bombastic Alexi Shostakov and makes good on the Wheaties box premise of one of the project’s promotional posters. While out grocery shopping, a cleaned-up Alexi proudly shows off a box of The Breakfast of Champions, which features the New Avengers on the front. Though it’s mostly there to add another laugh when Alexi fails to convince a woman to purchase a box, the scene implies that the cast of castoffs have indeed become the public-facing heroes Yelena aspired to be, completing their redemption arcs.

    Post-Credit

    Set 14 months after the conclusion of the film, the second scene–which runs a Marvel record 2 minutes and 54 seconds–finds the team, complete with fancy new uniforms–regrouping at their new HQ, The Watchtower. Though it’s not clearly stated, the New Avengers seem to have an assistive AI helping them out as that may well be an homage to C.L.O.C. or Centrally Located Organic Computer, who helped run The Watchtower in the pages of Marvel Comics. While the team’s discussion about Sam Wilson filing a lawsuit to prevent them from calling themselves The Avengers leads Shostakov to reveal his “New Avengerz” outfit, Yelena’s conversation discloses that they are aware of a “space crisis.” As they process that, the computer warns them of an extra-dimensional ship entering Earth’s atmosphere. That ship? The Excelsior, belonging to The Fantastic Four!

    Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (Lewis Pullman), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 MARVEL.

    While it’s not entirely clear what circumstances bring The First Family from their Earth to Earth-616, trailers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps have shown Reed Richards to be working on the math behind inter-dimensioal travel and with both The New Avengers and Fantastic Four slated to play big roles in Avengers: Doomsday, the scene teases the first meeting between the two.

  • Review: ‘Thunderbolts*’

    Review: ‘Thunderbolts*’

    Over the years, Marvel Studios’ approach to storytelling has increasingly been the focus of criticism. The framework within which the studio chooses to spin its narrative, the “Marvel formula,” has come under fire for its predictable plot structure, overreliance on humor, and willingness to sacrifice character-driven stories to advance the MCU’s longform story. As the studio’s Multiverse Saga has moved forward, the type of nuanced performances that allow for true excavation of a character have been forgone in favor of spectacle and it has become increasingly difficult to “spectacle” an audience that grew up with fully realized heroes flying around on screen. That hasn’t stopped Marvel from attempting to outspectacle its latest spectacle and the result has been a saga largely composed of vapid films, void of any emotional resonance. And along comes Thunderbolts*

    Piecemealed together by a series of writers, Thunderbolts* cavorts in insouciance for the Marvel formula, delivering something audiences haven’t seen from the studio in quite some time: a story galvanized and energized by its characters rather than visual effects and nostalgia. Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo and Lee Sung Jin Frankensteined a script that provided director Jake Schreier the opportunity to tell an MCU-set Jekyll and Hyde (that’s an entirely different monster) story, steeped in metaphysics and exploring ontological dependence. A non-empty set depends on its elements and the respective successes of both the Thunderbolts and the Thunderbolts* are entirely dependent on their respective elements.

    Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Bob (Lewis Pullman), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 MARVEL.

    You’re talking about a group of characters that have done a lot of bad things, and maybe are struggling with feeling good about themselves. There’s an element that does speak to mental health, and loneliness, and how some of the darkness that we experience in our lives can’t be necessarily fixed, but can only really be made lighter through connection and finding others

    Director Jake Schreier

    Working solo, the titular team wouldn’t survive the film’s first act and, reading between the lines of some comments recently made by Schreier, it sounds as if the film might have been on track to turn out to be another hollow, one-note action flick (Schreier described it as a small-scale “Die Hard thing”) that wouldn’t have survived a critical bashing before Calo and Sung Jin weaved heart and emotion into Pearson‘s original script. Instead of another potential dud, the reworked script turned into the studio’s most impressive Multiverse Saga film to date, putting character first without sacrificing spectacle, delivering some of the most impressive action sequences the MCU has seen in a decade, while telling a story about human trauma that powerfully reverberates with the audience. Whatever Thunderbolts* originally was, it evolved into one of the studio’s most entertaining and evocative films.

    Making a superhero film featuring a cast of charming, misfit losers meant that Thunderbolts* was inevitably going to be compared to Warner Bros. Suicide Squad films and Marvel’s own Guardians of the Galaxy. Thunderbolts* never feels derivative of those projects, however, because it leans so much harder into darker, more uncomfortable emotions and corners of human nature that are typically not part of superhero fare. For reasons each their own, Yelena Belova, John Walker, Ava Starr and Antonia Dreykov–all of whom find themselves in the employ of Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine–have lived large portions of their lives as disposable tools to be used at the whims of others. Bucky Barnes and Alexi Shostakov–neither of whom are working for Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine–have suffered the same fate. In one of the film’s more powerful moments, Bucky, who should know better than anyone given his past as The Winter Soldier, finds himself standing in the same shoes as those who were his masters in the past, seeking only to use the others as tools for his own ends without any value for consideration for them as human beings. Indeed his desire to succeed and inability to see them as anything other than means to an end prevents him from acknowledging their warnings about the film’s true threat. While parts of the scene are played off humurosly, it’s deeply tied to the film’s exploration of how emptiness can consume and how power can corrupt.

    L-R): Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2025 MARVEL.

    And we all have Paul Jenkins to thank for that. At the center of Thunderbolts* is Lewis Pullman‘s Bob, a tortured meth addict who volunteered to be a test subject for a program he’s told will help him and humanity reach new heights: Project Sentry. Though the studio kinda-sorta tried to hide it, Bob is Robert Reynolds, aka The Sentry, a Marvel Comics character created by Paul Jenkins. Jenkins always intended for Reynolds to be a study in mental health and while the MCU’s iteration of the character is not a beat-for-beat adaptation, he is as Jenkins intended him to be. Pullman‘s quirky, unassuming Bob–the only new character on the film’s main cast–enters the fray in the first act and quickly becomes the centerpiece of a story that subverts what fans have come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    So I knew from the beginning that Sentry was the Void, and this story was about mental health. It was about two sides of him. And in part, it was about the part that he couldn’t accept. The Void is part of him.

    Paul Jenkins
    (L-R) Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Bob (Lewis Pullman) in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 MARVEL.

    Schreier‘s subversion of the Marvel formula comes attached to a story centered around the continued bastardization of a formula foundational to the ongoing MCU narrative: the Super Soldier Serum. As Stanley Tucci‘s Abraham Erskine forewarned, the Super Soldier Serum amplifies everything that already exists inside the subject. Steve Rogers–a good man–became Captain America, the Senintel of Liberty and the Symbol of Truth–while Johann Shmidt became the Red Skull–the aberrant face of the Nazi Third Reich. A bit of dialogue in the second act of Thunderbolts* illumintates just how far the science of the MCU has progressed since then, however, as Bucky Barnes, Alexis Shostakov and John Walker compare and contrast their varieties of the serum, all while the most volatile and unethical version of the serum has created the most imperfect Super Soldier yet in the Sentry. By injecting the latest and greatest version of the serum into someone broken and hollow, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine makes good on Erskine’s warning, amplifying the void inside Robert Reynolds to the point where it manifests itself as The Void, an omnipotent shadow version of The Sentry. Over the course of the film, The Void seems to be held at bay by Bob, though physical contact with him drags the characters into memories of their own, dark traumas. However, once he’s finally unleashed in what begins as an Avengers-esque third act, the film takes a welcome detour from the Marvel formula. This Battle of New York, fought inside The Void, is the battle we must all fight from time to time: a battle against our worst self. And none of these characters can make it out without the others.

    It’s no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy, ’cause every now I then I beat the living shit out of me.

    -Lit

    Fascinatingly, Thunderbolts* instantly becomes the standard for “new Marvel” while paying homage to one of the MCU’s most important legacies. Perhps coincidentally, it also works wonderfully as commentary on the struggles of the Multiverse Saga. The Thunderbolts and Thunderbolts* ride parallel rails. Pullman‘s Bob becomes analogous with Marvel’s Multiverse Saga struggles. Just as Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine carelessly dosed Robert Reynolds, a hollow shell of a man, with an all-new, all-different formula intended to grant him the power of a thousand exploding suns, the studio carelessly assumed the Marvel formula would carry the hollow shells that were Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder to all-new heights. But that did not happen. The MCU was in jeopardy, both in and out of universe…and along came the Thunderbolts and Thunderbolts*.

    Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios’ THUNDERBOLTS*. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2025 MARVEL.

    The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great; bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because the strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows… compassion.

    -Doctor Abraham Erskine, Captain America: The First Avenger

    Playing with a stacked deck that nobody saw coming, Thunderbolts* combines fresh visuals (Schreier‘s eye for action and unique shots will have him on every studio’s list), a pair of emotionally powerful performances by Marvel’s brightest star, Florence Pugh, and Pullman, and, yeah, some MCU humor delivered by David Harbour and, surprisingly, Wyatt Russell. If Thunderbolts* is representative of what can be accomplished when the studio is willing to tinker with its formula, these new* heroes will be at the forefront of an intriguing renaissance for Marvel Studios.

    Sources: Comic Frontier, EW

  • First ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ BTS Photo May Reveal a Familiar Setting

    First ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ BTS Photo May Reveal a Familiar Setting

    One month after Marvel Studios slowly revealed over two dozen members of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, principal photography on the film has officially begun in the UK. Though it’s only just getting underway, photos of the construction of a large-scale practical set and rumblings of an opening scene at the X-Mansion have made their way online in recent weeks; now, a behind-the-scenes photo released by the Russo brothers looks to confirm the latter.

    Shared on Instagram, the first official look from the set of Avengers: Doomsday does not seem to give much away at first glance, though some might argue that seeing “Victor Von Doom” on the director’s chair might settle some concerns that Robert Downey Jr. is playing a Stark Variant. However, a closer look at the background could indeed confirm that the first scenes to be filmed for the movie are set at Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

    Given that it’s been some time since the interior of the X-Mansion has been visited on screen, it might be easy to overlook that Downey’s chair is positioned to intentionally provide a look at the wall of what can be assumed to be the location for filming on day one…and that wall does indeed look like it belongs inside Xavier’s school. The oak paneling is consistent with how the school has looked in the Fox films and with a large chunk of the cast of the original X-Men trilogy returning for Avengers: Doomsday, that’s unlikely to be a coincidence.

    While it’s safe to assume the Russos won’t be following the exact formula they used in making Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, it is likely there will be some resonance in some of the choices they make. Opening Avengers: Doomsday by having Victor Von Doom take on and possibly take out Fox’s OG X-Men would serve the same purpose as having Thanos easily defeat the Hulk and Thor while killing Loki. With X-Men: Days of Future Past having created a divergent timeline in which the events of the original trilogy were undone and the team was alive and well in 2023, the X-Men should be an incredibly formidable superteam and if they can’t stop Doom, who can?

  • Early Reactions Call ‘Thunderbolts*’ Marvel’s Best Since Endgame

    Early Reactions Call ‘Thunderbolts*’ Marvel’s Best Since Endgame

    Once upon a time, Thunderbolts* seemed to be on track to be a relatively run of the mill Marvel Studios movie that would serve as a sequel to 2021’s Black Widow. A few rewrites and an almost totally unknown director later, it sounds as though the studio’s work behind the scenes may have transformed Thunderbolts* into an MCU all-timer.

    Without giving away too much, a lot of what David [Harbour] and Florence [Pugh] are working with as material in this movie relates to that past relationship. And there’s resonance to that, so I think it’s important to everyone to preserve that legacy of something that emotionally meant so much to people and make sure that we refer to that in the right way, and we protect it and make sure that it means something. I think we’re pulling from all of their histories and then trying to tell something new. I don’t think that it feels like a Black Widow sequel. I think it feels like it’s a sampling of people from different parts [of this universe]. It’s definitely a part of our story but it’s not the driving force that leads into this film.

    -Jake Schreier

    Following the film’s European premier and series of early screenings Thunderbolts* is being hailed as an overwhelming success, featuring the kind of heart missing from many recent efforts.

    According to multiple socmed accounts, Thunderbolts* is carried by strong performances across the board with Florence Pugh and Lewis Pullman leading the way.

    While early screenings always generate “best ever” reactions, reading between the lines here reveals that Jake Schreier‘s approach to the project injected the film–and perhaps the MCU–with the shot of adrenaline it needed as it heads into the final phase of the Multiverse Saga.

  • Possible Peek at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom Reveals an Absolutely Absurd Take on the Character

    Possible Peek at Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom Reveals an Absolutely Absurd Take on the Character

    Of the 70,000+ characters created by Marvel Comics over the years, Doctor Doom is arguably the most well-crafted among them. Years of retcons have resulted in a flawed megalomaniac who remains entirely relatable to the Everyman. When Marvel Studios acquired the live-action rights to the character in 2019 as part of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, hopes wre high that after a pair of poor representations of Doom were brought to the screen in 2005 and 2015, Marvel might get it right. Those hopes have begun to fade.

    How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to beat expectations? And he brought up Victor Von Doom. I looked into this character. Later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.’

    -Robert Downey Jr. on Kevin Feige’s pitch for him to return to the MCU

    After what has since been revealed to be nearly a year’s worth of planning, Robert Downey Jr. was revealed to be Marvel Studios choice to bring Doctor Doom to life in the MCU. Questions about the choice haven’t really stopped since the announcement was made at SDCC ’24 and now a possible peek at Downey’s Doom look has generated even more concern.

    Downey’s 60th birthday celebration took place in the UK where the star has been for some time in preparation for the beginning of principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday and a very special invitation was sent out to those lucky enough to be in consideration to attend. Joined by a pair of Doombots, Downey’s Doom appears to be wearing combat fatigues, sporting a pair of black gauntlets and a gold mask. His ensemble is topped off with a fancy purple cape.

    While it would be easy–and perhaps best–to pass this off as simply some artistic choices, the fact that the character’s hair resembles the new look Downey was seen sporting at his party has led people to believe the invite is based closely on how Downey’s Doom will look in the film. And if that is the case, it’s unlikely to relieve concerns about this iteration of the character. Though the invitation does seem to indicate that this Doom will, like his comic book counterpart, be a mastrr of the mystic arts and a scientist, at some point it’s ok to wonder when Marvel Studios will stop attempting to reinvent the wheel each time they bring a major character into the MCU. Simply put, there is only Doom and he doesn’t need to be altered to be great.

    Avengers: Doomsday will be in theaters on May 1, 2026.