Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Fantastic Four: First Steps
After seeing Fantastic Four: First Steps, I’m having trouble shaking a pretty wild MCU theory about Robert Downey Jr.’s “casting” as Doctor Doom. Currently, it’s expected that RDJ’s Doom will be the primary antagonist of Avengers: Doomsday and likely Avengers: Secret Wars as well. However, I’m wondering if Marvel Studios is actually in the middle of a major long con.
Confirmed last year at SDCC, Marvel Studios turned the internet upside down with the announcement that RDJ will play Doctor Doom in the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday. However, I can’t help but wonder if there’s more to this reveal than meets the eye, especially now that Doctor Doom has made his first screen appearance in the MCU.
Doctor Doom Makes His First MCU Appearance In Fantastic Four: First Steps
Appearing Before Young Franklin Richards
As seen in Fantastic Four: First Steps’ initial post-credits scene, Sue Storm is shown reading to young Franklin four years after the movie’s events. Returning to the living room with a new book, Sue sees none other than Doctor Doom kneeling in front of the boy.
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Positioned away from the camera, all we see is Doom covered by a green hood while holding his iconic metal mask at his side. Meanwhile, Franklin is seemingly unafraid, touching Doom’s face before the screen fades to black. As such, Franklin Richards’ surprising demeanor seems like it might convey a degree of familiarity to Doom (which naturally got me thinking).
Marvel Studios May Be Using RDJ To Hide The Real Doctor Doom
An Elaborate Long Con To Preserve A Major Casting Twist
The idea that Franklin knows and is unafraid of the man beneath the mask is surprising, especially given that Doctor Doom and Franklin’s father, Reed Richards, have been rivals and enemies since college. However, that’s assuming that Doom and Reed’s history is the same in the comics, and that Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom also calls Earth-828 home.
After all, we still don’t know why RDJ was cast, and if he’s playing a genuine Victor von Doom, a multiversal variant of Iron Man who became Doom, or something in between. All the Russos said in their SDCC announcement was that casting RDJ as Doctor Doom was “proof of the unimaginable possibilities of the Marvel multiverse”.
However, I’m now wondering if RDJ’s casting is just an elaborate con on Marvel Studios’ part, especially after watching Doom’s debut in Fantastic Four. To put it simply, I think there’s a very real possibility that Robert Downey Jr.’s “casting” was meant to obscure the truth about the real actor playing Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday: Pedro Pascal.
Why I Think Pedro Pascal Might Also Be Playing Doctor Doom (Instead Of RDJ)
An Evil Reed Richards Variant
There are a few different reasons why I think Pedro Pascal is playing both Mister Fantastic and perhaps an evil variant of Reed Richards that became Doctor Doom in another reality:
Franklin Richards doesn’t seem to be scared of the face beneath Doom’s mask, perhaps because it’s the face of his father (not Robert Downey Jr).
Pedro Pascal uses a higher vocal register for Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps, meaning it would be easier for the actor to adopt a lower and more intimidating voice when playing Doctor Doom (think Din Djarin in The Mandalorian).
There are some intriguing references to twins in Fantastic Four: First Steps, like the pair of twins watching The Fantastic Four’s launch on television, or the RKO Palace showing Walt Disney’s The Emperor’s Twin, a fake movie only existing in this reality, which could be alluding to Secret Wars’ God Emperor Doom.
Avengers: Doomsday’s composer, Alan Silvestri, did the post-credits score, entitled “Doom?”. The question mark could be hinting that this Doom may not be the Doom we assume.
An evil Reed Richards as Doctor Doom could serve as a nod to the Ultimate Universe’s The Maker, the comics’ most famous evil variant of Mister Fantastic (who was also involved in 2015’s Secret Wars).
Ultimate Comics debuted a new Reed Richards who was tortured and forced to become Doom by The Maker in 2024, not long after the RDJ announcement at SDCC. While one of Marvel Comics’ writers (Deniz Camp) joked about the issue having a connection to Doomsday and how Downey is Doctor Doom, perhaps he’s close to the truth.
When asked directly if that was Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in the post-credits scene, Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman hesitated before answering in the affirmative, and we know from Andrew Garfield’s interviews pre-Spider-Man: No Way Home, that Marvel Studios and its actors are willing to lie for the sake of preserving a major twist/reveal.
It’s also worth mentioning that an evil Richards as Doctor Doom would solve the MCU’s lack of an established Victor/Reed rivalry. Instead, we’d have a Good Reed clashing with a Bad Reed variant, one who perhaps does more than just “invite the terrible outcomes into his mind,” a core flaw Reed Richards admits to in Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Perhaps a darker Reed Richards variant makes use of those terrible outcomes as a Doctor Doom without a family, embracing the darker side of his genius to remake the MCU multiverse as he sees fit (presumably with the power of another Reed’s son).
This is all pure conjecture, but it feels like there’s enough that we should at least be open to the possibility that RDJ may just be returning as Iron Man, while Pascal pulls double duty. Marvel may be going for a major shock-and-awe moment the first time Doom’s mask is removed, and we see Pedro rather than Downey.
Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters from Marvel Studios.
