By 
Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con has long been the location for some pretty big movie announcements. After a few years of disappointing product, it did seem like it was losing its luster as a sort of Geek Church. Marvel might have just pulled something of a publicity masterstroke to reverse that.
The fifth Avengers movie will be called Avengers: Doomsday.
The sixth will be Avengers: Secret Wars.
The team behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame will be reuniting for them, with directors Joe and Anthony Russo returning to direct. They will be joined by Stephen McFeely, who wrote the last two vengers movies with them.
The big… no, MASSIVE news was the reveal of the actor who will be playing Dr. Doom, a new nemsis for the MCU – Robert Downey Jr.
Camera phone image from inside Hall H
When I first heard this, I thought it was a joke. A publicity stunt of some kind? No, it is actually true. Downey Jr. will return not as Tony Stark, but as Victor Von Doom. How will they pull this off? Will it be some multiverse bullshit? A TVA-style variant where a Stark grew up in Latveria?
Or will he simply be playing a new character, masked 99% of the time, and the times we see him without the mask he will be heavily made up?
Nobody knows quite yet, but hopefully it will be the third option.
Walking on stage at Hall H for Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con panel and decked out in a green suit, Downey Jr. removed his Doom mask to reveal himself. At the same time a tweet dropped from Marvel Studios:
“New mask, same task.”
Robert Downey Jr. surprises Hall H to announce his return to the MCU as Doctor Doom. pic.twitter.com/j1SEjzse3p
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 28, 2024
As Downey Jr. said on stage:
“New mask, same task… What I tell ya I like playing complicated characters.”
This follows a period of turbulence in the MCU, with directors coming and going from some of these further out projects. Was the plan always to tempt the Russo Bros. back to the scene of the previous triumph? The sheer epic scale and ludicrous fun of Infinity War and Endgame seems like a lifetime ago after recent MCU efforts.
Other Marvel SDCC News
In other news from the Marvel panel, the Fantastic Four now has a new title – The Fantastic Four – First Steps.
The release date is holding as July 25th 2025 and filming starts on Tuesday.
The “retro-future of the 1960s” look was confirmed via some production art and stills. The Fantasticar was shown and said to have a Jetsons vibe. There was also a small look at Galactus with his face peering through a building.
The Fantastic Four characters will appear in both upcoming Avengers movies, which was a given now after the news above.
Marvel also showed the first trailer for Thunderbolts which is not yet online as of breakfast this morning. That could change at any time.
There was also a Captain America: Brave New World element to their panel. Kevin Feige called it a return to the grounded, conspiracy-style of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Giancarlo Esposito’s role was revealed as Sidewinder, the king of the secretive Serpent Society in the film. Also revealed was that the emergence of the Celestial Tiamut from the Earth in Eternals is addressed, with Tiamut’s remains being how adamantium will be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A Celestial Island Summit is held in the location from Eternals.
The post Marvel Drops Huge Hall H Surprise appeared first on Last Movie Outpost.
