Did the Russos Just Confirm A Wild Avengers: Doomsday Fan Theory?
Iron Man's sacrifice won't be ignored when Robert Downey, Jr. returns to the MCU.
“I am Iron Man” was the sentence that changed the game at the beginning of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, and it was the sentence that ended it with a bang at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Finally face-to-face with Thanos and in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, Tony Stark snapped his fingers and brought back the half of the world’s population. Unfortunately, he had to sacrifice himself in the process.
So when the Russo brothers announced Robert Downey, Jr. would return to the MCU as Dr. Viktor von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, there was one obvious question: how would all our favorite characters react to learning the villain they’re up against looks just like their fallen friend? When asked that in a recent interview with The Times, Anthony Russo said, “We can’t explain that, as it’s part of the story. But there’s nobody else in the world who could play this character the way he’s about to.” So what could that story be? The answer could come from the strangest place: Deadpool & Wolverine.
The demise of Logan, the Fox universe’s anchor being, is the focus of Deadpool & Wolverine.
In the Deadpool threequel, we learned the multiverse isn’t as simple as what we learned from Loki. Different universes have “anchor beings,” which is why Deadpool needed to go Wolverine-shopping across universes: the Wolverine from Logan was that universe’s anchor being. The introduction of that concept led fans to speculate about who the anchor being of the MCU universe could be, and guesses ranged from Spider-Man to even Kang the Conqueror.
But in an interview with ComicBook, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was asked directly about one of the leading theories for Earth-616’s anchor being: Tony Stark. Interestingly, Feige didn’t confirm or deny it, leading fans to believe they were on the right track.
The Russos quote makes it seem like Dr. Doom will appear unmasked in Doomsday.
If it’s true that Tony Stark is Earth 616’s anchor being, then the plot of Avengers: Doomsday may be like Deadpool & Wolverine in reverse. With the loss of its anchor being, the MCU is floundering, but then a savior comes from another dimension: a Tony Stark doppelganger who could fill the anchor being role.
Now that we know that Dr. Doom won’t just remain behind the mask and his appearance will actually factor into the story, this theory is looking more and more plausible. What better way for a visitor from another universe to make a splash than by using the face of what is essentially Marvel’s messiah? It may be difficult to accept Robert Downey, Jr. as a villain, but if this theory is correct, that may very well be the point.
