“That four-movie run was incredible, and it left us creatively spent.”
He said this changed when the duo found a ‘very special story’ that convinced them to return.
Although some fans have been left ecstatic by the announcement, others aren’t so happy with the casting of Downey Jr.
The 59-year-old is returning to the MCU after beginning his journey as Iron Man in 2008, who he played until the character died in Avengers: Endgame.
Downey Jr. portrays Iron Man, also known as Tony Stark, a charismatic genius with a carefree personality, making fans wonder how he will play such an intense, complex villain like Doctor Doom.
On X, formerly Twitter, one fan remarked: “Marvel actually dug a deeper hole for themselves by bringing RDJ back.
“Yes he will save their dying franchise but it will be an even harder job to take that Iron Man image off people’s minds.”
But this isn’t the only problem fans have with casting Downey Jr., as people also say an important aspect of Doctor Doom’s history is being ignored.
Blasting Marvel’s casting decision, one person writes: “This is straight-up whitewashing.”
Another adds: “Doctor Doom is not a white man.”
“Doom is my favorite comic book villain and Hollywood keeps messing it,” a third says.
Somebody else comments: “If you’re going to complain about RDJ as Doctor Doom, the whitewashing really should be front and center. I feel like that’s a much bigger issue than anything else.”
In the media, whitewashing is when white actors portray non-white characters or cover up their heritage.
Victor Von Doom, who made his debut in the 1962 edition of ‘Fantastic Four,’ hails from Latveria, a fictional Eastern European nation. The supervillain’s origin within a Latverian Romani tribe is a pivotal element of his backstory. The underrepresentation of Romani culture in film makes it a missed opportunity for Marvel Studios not to have taken this into account during casting. Following the announcement, individuals have expressed their disappointment on Reddit and suggested actors like Saša Barbul and Danny Wynter as ideal candidates for the role.
