Robert Downey Jr. is reportedly is making a high-flying return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — this time not as Iron Man, but as the iconic villain Doctor Doom. According to Variety, Marvel is luring the Oscar winner back with a jaw-dropping nine-figure deal that includes a private jet and 24/7 security.
Downey Jr. will portray Dr. Victor Von Doom in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.” The films will be produced by Anthony and Joe Russo under their company AGBO — a rare move, as Marvel typically keeps major projects in-house.
RDJ’s already lucrative contract does not have any backend deals, but if the film performs well, making back $750 million and $1 billion, he could make more than the $100 million and $200 million range, Variety reported.
RDJ has played Iron Man from 2008 to 2019, when the character got killed off. According to Comic Book Resources, the Oscar-winning actor made between $396 million and $435 million throughout his original run.
The return of the actor to a new role has fans excited. With that excitement comes high expectations.
The MCU films since his departure in “Avengers End Game,” alongside most of the original Avengers like Chris Evans playing Captain American or the late Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther, MCU has faced somewhat of a decline in popular and profitability.
Among both moviegoers and critics, the most recent films in the MCU, which follows an interlinked series, each batch of films falls into a phase of canon events that are supposed to connect the films for tie-ins and epic team-ups.
There are a total of six MCU phases, with some movies having not been released yet or being slated for later this year, like the new Fantastic Four movie this summer or the aforementioned new RDJ Avengers movies.
Downey Jr. is not appearing in the 2025 Fantastic Four debut because Marvel is deliberately saving Doctor Doom’s introduction for a much bigger reveal in “Avengers: Doomsday” (2026).
However, based on what users and reviews think of the MCU, phase 4 (2021) is when the movies and Disney+ shows were getting mixed reception.
As Forbes reported, “The Marvels,” released in 2023 with a 5 out of 10 rating among fans and professionals on IMDb and Metacritic, made the worst opening in the history of the MCU with $47 million at the domestic box office. This is a sequel to the 2019 “Captain Marvel” movie, which domestically opened to $153 million and went on to earn more $1 billion worldwide.
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