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Victor Von Doomlives in Latveria, a blighted and gothic country somewhere in remote misty-mountain Europe.
He shares Frankensteins first name and lives in a Dracula-looking castle.
In political terms, hes King Putin Rasputin.
None of this screams Robert Downey Jr.
In ten Marvel movies across 11 years, Downey played Iron Man as a chatterbox alpha-brain.
The guy was more fun in,gasp, the conversation scenes.
Its not that the actor hasnt gone wicked before.
He won an Oscar for embodying peevish military-industrial bureaucracy inOppenheimer.
(Idiotically, I prefer him inU.S.
He can nail being a nefarious jerk.
Victor Von Doom is foreign, tragic, shadowy.
Marvel wants the glory days back.
What Downey wants is … well, money, obviously.
(A lot of it.)
What brought him back?
First, lets establish the known unknowns.
What manner of Doom is Downey supposed to be?
Theres precedent for discovering evil versions of good characters, and vice versa, of course.
So I keep thinking theres some secret behind this casting that were not yet seeing.
Downey, by contrast, brings unique elements of familiarity and mystery, nostalgia plus metamorphosis.
Hes back but for what?
In truth, its hard to picture any actor in the part.
Techno-magik is a complicated vibe most filmmakers dont even venture to nail.
Poor Julian McMahon was a dumb-looking Doom in 2005sFantastic Four.
Poorer Toby Kebbell looked dumber in 2015sThe Fantastic Four.
The transition would allow some room for improvement.
Fantastic role in that reboot, the upcoming Marvel crossovers could revisit the Reed-Doom dynamic.
(See:Deadpool & Wolverine,Loki, the most recentSpider-Men.)
(He wanted them to steal Blackbeards treasure; do you ever miss small stakes?)
Which raises the obvious question: Will Downey come face-to-face with Downey?
Doctor Doom and Iron Man have interacted infrequently on the page.
It seems unlikely that multiple masked Downeys will get into sword fights with King Arthur and Blackbeard the pirate.
But the most hopeful possibilities, I think, are the weirdest ones.
Doctor Doom could be a similar experiment.
Im talking Downey with a thick Eurotrash accent, Downey flinging his green cape for effect.
I call this Tom Holland syndrome, due to theHomecomingstars ever-chipper Disney Channel affect.
Fair to say we can expect something different from Downey.
The actors original success inIron Mandepended on how effectively he rib-poked the whole notion of superhero gravitas.
Bringing Downey back at the center of a gigantic crossover is a much riskier move into yesteryear.
I hope its a genuinely distinctive performance, steeped in the characters peculiar history.
Then, well, were doomed.
