Robert Downey Jr. was originally wanted for the role of Doctor Doom in the 2005 film Fantastic Four.
By Charlene Badasie | Updated 9 minutes ago
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and filmmaker Jon Favreau say Robert Downey Jr. was originally in the running to play Doctor Doom in a Fantastic Four movie. The actor, who became a central part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Tony Stark/Iron Man, met with the studio for the role of Victor Von Doom long before the cast of Iron Man began.
The couple revealed the news during a 15-year Iron Man retrospective, in which they discussed how Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark. “I remember that Robert entered as a general [audition], and I remember you’ve all met him before for Doctor Doom or something on another project… maybe Fantastic Four,” Favreau said. Feige responded with a simple, “Right, right.”
Robert Downey Jr.’s cast of “Doctor Doom” is likely a reference to 2005’s “Fantastic Four,” produced by 20th Century Fox, for which Kevin Feige served as executive producer. The film, directed by Tim Story, starred Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom. The actor reprized the role in the 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom
Joseph Culp played Doctor Doom in Roger Corman’s defunct 1994 film The Fantastic Four, which was never released. After McMahon, Toby Kebbell took over the role for the reboot of 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four.
Although Robert Downey Jr. was never cast as Doctor Doom, he left an indelible mark on the world of superhero movies. He founded the MCU in 2008’s Iron Man and reprized the role of Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Robert Downey Jr. made his final appearance as Iron Man in the Infinity Saga – Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in 2018 and 2019 respectively Actor who embodied Iron Man for a full decade was once considered for the role of Doctor Doom.
In the comics, Victor Von Doom once took on the role of Iron Man in the infamous Iron Man story arc created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. The series ran from 2016 to 2017. The first issue came out in October 2016 with reasonable success. The track sold 73,735 copies in its first month and was the 23rd most popular track at the time of its release.
Next up is Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer. The biographical thriller is based on the 2005 book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist from the United States known as the “father of the atomic bomb.”
In addition to Robery Downey Jr., supporting cast includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett and Kenneth Branagh. The film is currently in post-production.