Robert Downey Jr. Reveals His Odd Approach to Playing Doctor Doom

Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU as Victor Von Doom after Tony Stark died saving the universe in Endgame, and he says his preparation is deliberately ego-less. “I'm quite odd in that I try to stay as removed from a subjective experience of things as I can,” he told CBR.

He explains that he tries to “think like the brothers” and “feel like I'm in the writing room,” circling one question above all: “What hasn't been done as well as it can be done yet?” That search for a fresh angle guides how he approaches the role. Downey ties that mindset to a simple principle: “You're only as good as your bad guy,” linking Avengers: Doomsday back to Infinity War, where the one thing every hero could rally around was the certainty they would have to contend with Brolin's Thanos.

The Russos have bet on Downey against type, and when they revealed his casting at San Diego Comic-Con in 2024 Joe Russo called Doom one of the most complex characters in comics and introduced Downey as the one person who could play him.

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