During a post-SDCC interview with EW, Avengers: Doomsday star Robert Downey Jr. revealed that he has seen an early cut of the movie, and believes it might be the film that "redeems" the MCU.
“It is absolutely fantastic," said the Academy Award-winner when asked for his opinion on the movie. "I think we may redeem ourselves yet.”
Any actor sharing praise for their own film should obviously be taken with a grain of salt (he's hardly going to say it's terrible), but it is interesting that RDJ seems to agree with the consensus that the franchise is in need of redemption.
Though there have been a few bright spots (Deadpool and Wolverine, The Fantastic Four: First Steps), fans generally view the Multiverse Saga as a disappointment overall, and the studio evidently feels that there is a lot of pressure on Doomsday to get the MCU back on track.
In a separate interview with People.com, directors Joe and Anthony Russo shared their reactions to hearing RDJ's Doom voice for the first time.
"That was something that Robert surprised us with one day,” Anthony says. “You know, we were talking about all the details of the character — the voice, of course, is a key part of it, especially in the mask.” “So one day I think it was in the trailer, we were just sort of talking about some ideas and he broke out into the voice,” Anthony continues. “And we knew at that moment, that was it.”
Joe adds that he got "chills" upon hearing the accent Downey planned to use for the Latverian villain.
“I mean, it was one of those moments. It’d probably be one of the more memorable moments. —that and the ‘I Am Iron Man’ [sequence] when he snapped his fingers. Robert tends to present a lot of those super memorable moments.”
You can hear RDJ's "Doom voice" for yourselves in the trailer below.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were hit with significant delays last year, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Universes collide and the Multiverse Saga begins its final chapter in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday. Beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and ultimately face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered. This epic film will lay the foundation for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe."
Doomsday will star:
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Along with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.