Doctor Doom theory: why does Robert Downey Jr. look like Stark?

When Marvel Studios announced that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU, this time as Doctor Doom, I was among the very confused fans. My theory is that the studio may draw on a What If storyline from the comics called Demon in an Armor, a body swap tale, to explain how Victor Von Doom could end up looking exactly like Tony Stark in Avengers: Doomsday.

Opinion on the casting seemed split. Even with the Multiverse giving us one actor playing completely different characters, like Chris Evans as both Johnny Storm and Steve Rogers, this seemed like a far stretch. Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark were central to building the MCU in the first place, so a reader can be forgiven for wondering how this is even possible. I think there are several comic storylines Marvel Studios may adapt, with a couple of twists of its own.

Kevin Feige's joke suggests Marvel thought the Doctor Doom reveal through

At the time of the announcement, the film was around two years away, so the official explanation may not come until it arrives. But some of what was said on stage lets you read between the lines. As everybody was leaving the stage after the reveal, Kevin Feige asked the crowd whether anybody had any questions, then said he was kidding and wished everyone goodnight.

Everyone involved was aware of the shock waves this would cause and how much was on the line: Tony Stark's legacy, Robert Downey Jr.'s legacy, the Russos' legacy, and Marvel Studios trying to stick the landing with the Multiverse Saga. They would not have waded into waters this deep without thinking it all the way through. They may not have every answer, but my thought is that Feige acknowledging people would have a million questions means they had already played through those questions themselves.

One of the Russos used almost exactly the same wording, saying they had figured out a way forward. So if you're worried this was done rashly, I would not think that's the case. It would be much easier for Robert Downey Jr. and the Russos not to do this, so they must have a very strong story idea to make this move.

The Russos called him Victor Von Doom, not Tony Stark

Logically, it's one of two things. Either it's a version of Tony Stark who becomes Doctor Doom, or it's a version of Victor Von Doom who happens to look like the Tony Stark of the 616 universe.

The wording on stage was very specific. When the Russos introduced the character, they made sure to say Victor Von Doom. To me, that emphatically indicates this is Victor Von Doom, not Tony Stark becoming Doctor Doom or taking that alias. This is a different character altogether.

Why Infamous Iron Man is the opposite of this

People immediately turned to the comics for storylines where this could make sense. The first one I kept seeing everywhere was Infamous Iron Man. That story is the opposite of this situation: it's where Victor Von Doom takes up the Iron Man mantle while Tony himself is comatose. That is not what's happening here.

Demon in an Armor and the Tony Stark body swap

The other storyline people were pointing to is the one where Tony Stark starts out as Doctor Doom's roommate. It comes from a What If storyline called Demon in an Armor, and this is what I believe Marvel Studios will draw on to explain how and why Victor Von Doom looks like Tony Stark.

That story keeps many of the characteristics you know about Tony Stark and Victor Von Doom the same. The one big change is that instead of Reed Richards being Victor's college roommate, it's Tony Stark. Things do not go well for Tony. Victor does not become his best friend, because he resents Tony for coming from a position of privilege while he has to work so hard.

So Victor dupes Tony into helping him on a project to try to keep his scholarship, and ends up switching their brains and bodies, like Face/Off. Tony ends up a Latverian commoner with his memory wiped. Meanwhile, Victor is in Tony's body, ready to reap the rewards of the privileged position he saw Tony had and thought he wanted so badly.

That could lead to this Victor Von Doom, one who has already gone through that What If story, showing up in Battleworld or the 616 universe from across the Multiverse. He would have taken the form of someone near and dear to our heroes' hearts: Tony Stark, Iron Man.

Could Doctor Doom simply be a Tony Stark lookalike?

There is a slight chance this is a Victor Von Doom who happens to look exactly like our Iron Man, the same way Chris Evans appears as Steve Rogers and Johnny Storm across the Multiverse as completely different people.

But with this storyline already existing, and with what Robert Downey Jr. meant as an actor to the MCU, there is too much on the line for those involved personally, let alone for Tony Stark's legacy inside the Cinematic Universe. I find it hard to believe they would all agree to jump into this without seeing a clear way through, or at least knowing their plan. Since Demon in an Armor is a storyline with a body swap like this, I have to assume it would be their way forward.

How Robert Downey Jr. could get back to Iron Man

You can imagine that the Tony Stark who ended up a mind wiped commoner in Latveria rises from the ashes and becomes powerful, because he's still Tony Stark regardless of what position you put him in. At some point he's going to find a workaround.

They could end up switching bodies back. That would leave us with Doctor Doom in his original body and Tony Stark back in his, played by Robert Downey Jr., ready to put on the armor and fight alongside the Avengers after being mind controlled and having his body hijacked for who knows how long. I know I'm way ahead of myself, but I think that's how you get Robert Downey Jr. back as Iron Man. He gets to play a completely different character in Victor Von Doom for quite some time first.

Jeff Sneider reported the casting weeks earlier

There were going to be thousands of theories over the following two and a half years, and I was looking forward to seeing them. Marvel Studios announced probably the craziest thing it could have, something none of us saw coming.

Jeff Sneider on The Hot Mic podcast broke this a couple of weeks before the announcement, and kudos to him. Whoever that source is, they were right on the money, and he had been building quite a track record. So it was out there, but it was so unbelievable that I thought the idea was ridiculous. Marvel Studios found something that was going to blow everybody's mind. Now it has to follow it up in a way that makes sense logistically.

Why I don't think this was a Hail Mary from Marvel

Everybody was stunned by the announcement, me included, and I didn't know what to make of it. But after going back over the panel several times and hearing Feige jokingly ask the crowd for questions, knowing full well everybody had a ton of them, I'm convinced these are questions they had already thought through.

There were many conversations I can't wait to hear about after Secret Wars wraps up: how they ever got to this place and decided they would all be in. At some point this was somebody's idea first, maybe Robert Downey Jr.'s, which is what I would assume. So if you think this is a Hail Mary from a panicking Marvel, a last ditch effort to figure out what to do, I'd say don't panic. They know a way forward.