Robert Downey Jr.’s shocking return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom divides fans

Tony Stark died a hero. But Robert Downey Jr. lived long enough to become a villain.

Downey had seemingly finished his Marvel career in 2019 when, after playing Stark across 10 films, his superhero alter ego Iron Man finally died fighting Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame.”

But on Saturday, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige surprised the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con when he announced Downey’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — this time as Doctor Doom, or Victor Von Doom.

Downey, stepping forward to reveal himself onstage, tore off his mask to screaming cheers from the crowd.

“New mask, same task,” he posted of his return.

One of Marvel’s most notorious supervillains, Doctor Doom is slated to appear in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

But many online have expressed confusion about the casting choice.

Fans are questioning how exactly the role would work, with some speculating that Downey will play a variant of Doctor Doom who’s actually an evil multiverse version of Stark, and others wondering if Downey will simply play the character with no links to Iron Man. Dr. Doom wears a face mask, which means Downey’s role is expected to involve mostly voice work.

Even Gwyneth Paltrow, who co-starred as Pepper Potts in the “Iron Man” franchise, shared her surprise on Downey’s Instagram post, commenting, “I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?”

Memes quickly proliferated online after the announcement, poking fun at Downey for immediately returning to the MCU after winning the first Oscar of his decadeslong career (for “Oppenheimer”).

Some also expressed facetious disdain for how much money Downey must have accepted to come back to Marvel, suspecting a lucrative deal.

Many online criticized the casting, writing it off as a choice “done strictly for fan service” and expressing that they would have preferred a fresh face over a known MCU star.

Some fans called the decision a “desperate” play by Marvel after disappointing box office numbers for recent films such as “Captain Marvel” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” at least until “Deadpool & Wolverine” dominated the box office this weekend.

Others, however, said they were simply glad to see Downey return, no matter the role.

Downey’s new role appears to be replacing that of “Fantastic Four” villain Kang the Conqueror, who also became the subject of many memes on Saturday.

Marvel had announced in 2022 that Kang would be the focus of the next “Avengers movie,” which was titled “The Kang Dynasty” before its rebrand into “Doomsday” — as the studio had cut ties with Kang actor Jonathan Majors last year after he was convicted of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend.