Marvel gets Doom scrolling
FOUR EMPIRE STAFFERS DEBATE ROBERT DOWNEY JR’ S STARTLING RETURN TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
Chris Hewitt (Executive Editor): So, Robert Downey Jr is back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this time not as Tony Stark but as Doctor Doom. I was intrigued when I heard the news because I don’t know what the hell they’re going to do. I don’t know how they’re going to pull this off. And I’m excited by that. I’m also terrified because it can fuck things up in a million different ways. But the Russos haven’t put a foot wrong in the MCU so far, so in them we trust.
Alex Godfrey (Features Editor): I asked the other day if there was a narrative, comic-book reason for casting him. And everyone said, “No!” But I saw there was some interchangeability between Doctor Doom and Tony Stark, or one’s mind was transferred into the other’s body.
Chris: Doom became Iron Man at one point, but I don’t think there’s ever been a bit where Tony Stark became Doctor Doom.
Alex: But they are not just casting him, the same actor, as someone different. They’re not just saying it doesn’t matter.
James Dyer (Digital Editor-In-Chief ): I’m assuming that Tony Stark will stay dead and this will be a Stark variant from an alternate timeline, who will find his way into that world. That could work, if done carefully. If they’re planning to bring Stark back to life and make him evil, that’s not so good.