At the San Diego Comic-Con, Robert Downey Jr. made an expected return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in the unexpected role of Dr. Doom, leaving fans heavily disappointed and baffled.
Doctor Doom is of Romanian ethnicity, and his ethnic heritage plays a crucial role in the original comic story, so fans anticipated a Romanian face for the role!
But to many Marvel fans’ disappointment, on July 27, 2024, Oppenheimer actor Robert Downey Jr made a dramatic entrance as Dr. Doom. At first, he remained hidden behind Doctor Doom’s mask, but eventually, he revealed his identity.
AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY is set to start filming in London in the second quarter of 2025!
— MCU – The Direct (@MCU_Direct) July 30, 2024
(via @Variety) pic.twitter.com/bbH5ioG9Fu
Then, the Academy Award winner addressed the crowd and said, “New mask, same task. What’d I tell you, I like playing complicated characters.”
While some liked the idea of RDJ playing Dr. Doom, hardcore Marvel fans are not having it, not even a bit. Instead, they bashed and blamed Marvel for ‘whitewashing’ the character Doctor Doom and accused the studio of a cheap cash grab.
The tragedy stemming from Romanian ethnicity is what ultimately gave birth to Dr. Doom!
First of all, Dr. Doom is one of the most iconic Marvel villains, with excellent control and mastery over both magic and science. He is a major archnemesis of the Fantastic Four who hides his face behind a mask.
According to the original comic book storyline, Victor von Doom, aka Doctor Doom, was born to his mother, Cynthia, and father, Werner, in a Romani camp outside Haasenstadt, Latveria.
At the time, the Romani people were not equal and often were the victims of unfair discrimination treatment.
Doctor Doom’s mother was a powerful witch who lost her life in an attempt to keep her people safe from oppressive rulers by making a pact with a demon, Mephisto. After the tragic death of his mother, things changed for Victor as he learned the world was not kind to people with Romani heritage.
That’s how you make people immediately forget about Kang and Jonathan Majors😭 pic.twitter.com/5pTlsFNASQ
— TCU 🍥 (@TheRealTCU) July 28, 2024
Sometime later, in cold winter, the leader of Latverian Baron summoned his father, Werner, to heal his wife.
However, he failed to do so, and to avoid Baron’s wrath, Werner fled with his son Victor. However, Werner freezes to death due to a severe cold, all while holding his son close, giving him every last ounce of warmth.
This tragic sequence of events eventually made Victor von Doom arrogant and obsessed with power so that he could rescue his dead mother. His hunger for power eventually gave birth to Doctor Doom, who returned to Latveria and took control of it.
So, all these tragedies that Doctor Doom experienced firsthand when he was young because of his Romanian ethnicity alone drove him to become the person he is later.
Fans always anticipated someone with Romanian roots as Doctor Doom on the big screen!
Given the depth and significance of Doctor Doom’s Romanian ethnicity in his character development, fans always thought they would see someone with Romanian roots bring justice to the character on the big screen.
However, now that Robert Downey Jr., who does not have any link to Romanian heritage, is all set to appear as Doctor Doom, fans are bashing the studio.
Additionally, there’s a Doctor Doom variant of Tony Stark, but RDJ is not playing that variant here. So, it makes sense why hardcore Marvel fans are disappointed with the casting.
Sorry but I’m really disappointed that Robert Downey Jr is playing Doctor Doom. It just reeks of the MCU wanting to get rid of Kang quickly and using stunt casting/nostalgia bating to gain favour with fans. Is Doom now a Tony variant? Would’ve been nice to see his Romani origins. pic.twitter.com/XmVy9LilMa
— Ben L Maden (@blmaden) July 28, 2024
Expressing anger, one fan tweeted, “This is straight-up whitewashing. Like this is absolutely disgusting. like i knew they would whitewash him, bc marvel doesn’t gaf about romani representation. BUT ROBERT DOWNEY JR???“
Meanwhile, another wrote, “I don’t see Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Victor von Doom is a Romani character and someone close to the ethnicity should have been cast.”
Despite all this chaos in the Marvel fandom, the studio has not addressed these conflicts and disappointments in the media.
Additional Information
- Starring Robert Downey Jr., ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is expected to be released in May 2026, followed by ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ a year later.
- The directors of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ the Russo brothers, will be directing the highly anticipated Avengers movie.
- Doctor Doom first appeared in July 1962 in The Fantastic Four #5 and has since become famous as the Fantastic Four’s archnemesis.
