Summary
One new MCU star’s hopes for Robert Downey Jr’s return to theMarvel Cinematic Universeas Doctor Doom raise the potential for the next best thing to an Iron Man crossover for the upcoming hero.2024’s San Diego Comic-Conbrought a lot of exciting updates about the MCU with the convention’s Marvel panel, but by far the biggest was the revelation that Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. would be appearing on the big screen inupcoming Marvel releases- but this time, as a notable villain.
Naturally, this twist has garnered reactions from many of the MCU’s actors, both in terms of their personal response to the casting, and in terms of their thoughts on what this could mean for their own respective characters. With some characters having a long history with Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark - and some having never directly interacted with the hero - there are a lot of different results to both questions, many of which raise some fascinating possibilities forthe MCU timelineand its future. Indeed, one particular response could well mean a seemingly impossible crossover gets an important payoff of a different kind.
All Marvel Movies Releasing In 2024
The Marvel movies releasing in 2024 offer a range of film experiences - and some confusion, due to the changed dates of several incoming installments.
Ironheart Fighting Doctor Doom Is The Next Best Thing To Riri Williams Getting To Meet Iron Man
Ironheart Facing Doctor Doom Would Be Great For The MCU
Following the news that Robert Downey Jr. will be playing Doctor Doom in the MCU,Ironheart actor Dominique Thorne emphatically agreed with questions about whether she’d like to see Riri face off with Doctor Doom, stating in an interview withComicBookMoviethat, “I mean, who wouldn’t, right?…I think that’s again one of the great things about the MCU is that right when you think, ‘Oh, we’ve seen it all,’ there is indeed more…And so I know everybody, like, we’re all already beside ourselves thinking about what that even looks like.”
Sadly, Riri Williams getting to meet the MCU’s focal Iron Man seems pretty unlikely following his death inAvengers: Endgame. While the comic version of Ironheart is assisted by an AI version of Tony Stark, this also doesn’t seem possible in the MCU either, since the franchise has shown no tease of such a scenario, and indeed the events ofAvengers: Age Of Ultrondo suggest Tony may have destroyed anything resembling this kind of AI project. Similarly, bringing the character back as an AI would risk sabotaging the impressive impact of his MCU legacy and tragic sacrifice.
However, nowRobert Downey Jr. has been cast as Doctor Doom, this can serve as a way to address the Iron Man legacy and its passing down to figures like Ironheart, Spider-Man, and War Machine. The franchise could directly address this by having Doom be an Iron Man variant - as many popular theories suggest - and have the likes of Ironheart react to this warped version of their inspiration. Approaching things from this perspective could also add more weight to Doctor Doom’s story, by allowing it serve as the flip side of the coin to Iron Man’s own.
Even if Doom isn’t linked to Iron Man in-universe, though, this still opens the perfect opportunity to pass the torch in a real-life context which would be a shame to pass up. MCU movies are no strangers to making meta references to real world events - especially those regarding Marvel and other Marvel movies - and giving even a passing line that nods to Ironheart meeting Iron Man in a sense could well pay dividends in terms of connecting their overarching stories.
Why Ironheart Meeting Robert Downey Jr. In The MCU Needs To Happen
Ironheart Meeting Iron Man’s Actor Helps Cement The MCU’s Legacy & Set Up Its Future
Though Ironheart’s story doesn’t strictly need to have strong links to the MCU’s Iron Man, it is something that would undeniably assist her story as one of the characters who is essentially a successor to the iconic Marvel hero.With Robert Downey Jr. having now returned to the MCU, it makes especial sense to capitalize on this by having Ironheart interact with a character the Iron Man actor plays- even if this isn’t Tony Stark himself. Other successors like Spider-Man and War Machine have storied history with the hero, making this more crucial for Ironheart in a lot of ways.
This is doubly true givenAvengers: Doomsdayis set up to be a major crossover movie, and will feature Doctor Doom as the focal villain of the series, taking over from Kang and the originalAvengers 5plans forAvengers: The Kang Dynasty. With this backdrop in mind, having Ironheart and the actor who plays the hero’s predecessor meet seems par for the course, as it can be pulled off in a way that fits naturally into the overarching story at hand.
When Ironheart Could Fight Doctor Doom In The MCU
The Avengers Movies May Offer The Most Likely Chances
Currently,theAvengers: Doomsdaymovieseems the most viable place for Ironheart and Doctor Doom to face one another, since Doom is confirmed to have a key antagonist role in the movie, and it would make sense to have Ironheart in the film also, particularly since her solo Disney+ series will have set up more about her own personal hero arc in the build up to the fifth Avengers release. However, this isn’t the only place the meeting - and potential brawl - could take place.
Thestory ofAvengers: Secret Warsmay actively be a more tenable place for a fight that includes Doctor Doom and Ironheart, since the movie is teased to be a crossover on a colossal scale, which would make Ironheart’s prospective appearance seem almost inevitable. Similarly,Secret Warscould be the best place for the passing of any proverbial torches to take place, since it’s the final movie in the Multiverse Saga and thus the second Saga’s ownEndgameof sorts, and a prime place to set up for the next era of Marvel’s on-screen empire.
Ultimately, though, it won’t be clear whether the two characters will ever cross paths until these installments are released, and more about Doctor Doom and Ironheart’s respective stories come to light. However, the possibility does highlight the strengths of Robert Downey Jr’s newMCUcasting even long before he’s set to appear on-screen, raising some hopeful potential scenarios for the future - and allowing elements of Iron Man’s story to get some potential final payoffs without the franchise having to tamper with the crucial legacy of its biggest and most beloved hero.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
