At this year’s MCM Comic Con, Joe Russo spoke about how he, his brother Anthony Russo, and Robert Downey Jr. were “enticed” to return to Marvel.
In July, it was officially confirmed that the directing duo would helm Avengers: Judgment Day, with Robert Downey Jr. returning, but this time as Doctor Doom, one of Marvel’s iconic villains, instead of Iron Man.
It turns out the Russo brothers were preparing a new project with Downey Jr. when the studio reached out to them. “Why would we come back if we didn’t feel like we had a story that could stand on par with Infinity War and Endgame, unless it had a bold idea?” Joe Russo explained, as quoted by Variety.
Recasting Downey Jr. presented a challenge for Marvel, as studio president Kevin Feige noted in a December statement last year. He emphasized they wanted to avoid disrespecting the legacy of Tony Stark, should he return in the future.
“We’ll preserve that moment and won’t undo it. Many of us worked hard for years to reach that moment, and we don’t want to invalidate it,” Feige said regarding Iron Man’s story conclusion.
It’s still unclear what Marvel has in store for Doctor Doom, but with the Russo brothers involved, Avengers: Judgment Day promises an epic storyline, slated to hit theaters in April 2026.
