Joe Russo Calls Avengers: Doomsday a Complete Reinvention as Civil War Themes Return

We knew Avengers: Doomsday was going to be big, and we knew it was going to be something different, but in a recent interview the Russo brothers went further, with Joe Russo calling the film "a complete reinvention." Between that and what Anthony Russo said about Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, I came away thinking we're about to get something like a Captain America: Civil War part two in Doomsday, which I already thought was going to happen for many different reasons.

I think there are some deep connections here, linking Doomsday back to Captain America: Civil War, to Avengers: Endgame, and to Loki season 1 and Loki season 2. Later in this piece I'll lay out why I think Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom and Tony Stark are going to be very similar, and why that sets up a second civil war over the multiverse.

Joe Russo says Doomsday is another swing that audiences aren't expecting

I really love what Joe Russo said in this interview. He started with Marvel's track record: "what Marvel's done better than anybody in history is the serialized storytelling at scale." Then he turned to the new film: "Doomsday is, you know, a complete reinvention. It's another swing."

Basically, he said he doesn't think the audience is expecting it at all, meaning what happens in the movie, its tone, and its subject matter. He added that he's hoping it feels like "another profound shift" for audiences in that serialized story. The phrases "profound shift" and "serialized story" were repeated back during the conversation.

Why I believe the reinvention points to the MCU's soft reboot

In the past, the Russo brothers have specifically said Avengers: Endgame was the end. It was an ending story, but Avengers: Doomsday is a new beginning. Now Joe Russo is calling it a complete reinvention, and what I believe he's talking about is a reinvention of the MCU as a whole.

That makes me think about the soft reboot that the Marvel Studios president has confirmed is coming. We know we're going to end up with a universe where everyone finally exists in that universe: the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and so on. Avengers: Doomsday really is going to be the shift in the MCU going into that new universe, and I'm more convinced of that now based on what Joe Russo said.

Doomsday sounds deeper and darker, with parenthood a pretty big part of the story

It also sounds like this movie probably is going to be a little bit deeper than the other Marvel movies we've experienced, and we've seen some pretty deep movies. Sure, some people can talk about the storytelling for Marvel Studios, but I've been revisiting the MCU lately, and there are some really powerful emotional moments in films like Guardians of the Galaxy. A lot of people take the humor of that movie and think it's a slapstick funny movie, but it's got so much depth in it. It's an amazing movie, and the MCU has done that a lot. Now we're going even further.

Joe Russo also mentioned the tone, and it seems like it's going to be really, really dark. As far as the story is concerned, it sounds like fatherhood, or parenthood in general, is going to be a pretty big part of it, and the children are going to play a pretty big role. We've been hearing a rumor that Doom might kill Steve Rogers' son. That would be a pretty dark tone, and it would be pretty surprising. If Doom ultimately recreates his own universe, Steve Rogers' son might come back, but that's still going to be pretty dark to see on screen.

Anthony Russo says the Captain America and Iron Man dynamic continues in Doomsday

Anthony Russo had some really great things to say as well. Looking back at Captain America: Civil War, he described the challenge of taking two heroes and making them completely opposed to one another in their objectives, and of making "both of them relatable, but both of them flawed." He credited Markus and McFeely with "a lot of very deft work" to execute that.

He said it's a testament to the fact that it worked that, 10 years later, both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers "remain very empathetic and rootable," adding that "to this day people are divided over who was was more relatable in that film." The interviewer suggested that dynamic is kind of the root of what the brothers are exploring in Doomsday, even though they're changing one of the characters quite a bit, and with the same actors. Anthony Russo agreed, saying the "unresolved" aspirations and flaws of those characters continue to unfold as they move into Doomsday.

This is really interesting, and it leads me to believe we are basically getting the continued story of Civil War in Avengers: Doomsday. Essentially, a Civil War part two that comes down to the mentality of Tony Stark, now Doom, and Steve Rogers.

Free will versus control runs from Civil War through Loki

If you think about what's been building up to this moment in the MCU, it's essentially been free will. That's kind of what Captain America: Civil War was about. Iron Man believed the heroes needed to be governed and put in check, but Captain America thought they needed to be free to choose for themselves.

When we got into Loki, that's really what it became about. Free will wasn't a real thing because He Who Remains was writing history. He was writing the timeline, and any time anything didn't go according to plan, any time a branch happened, it was erased. There was no free will and no free choice. Tony, meanwhile, wanted a suit of armor around the world. He wanted to be able to control everything. That's really what I think Doctor Doom is going to be like.

Why I think Doctor Doom and Tony Stark are going to be very similar

The reason isn't clear to us yet, but I'm sure there's a clear reason why Robert Downey Jr., who played Iron Man, who was the face of the MCU and died, is coming back to play Doctor Doom. There has to be a big reason for that. I think Doom and Tony are going to be very similar.

It's not that hard to imagine a world where Tony went in a different direction and was evil. Same intellect, same genius, but he didn't have good people around him. Or he did have good people around him and they were taken away, which caused him to go down a different path. I'm not talking about his parents. I'm talking about a wife and a child, because we've been hearing reports that Doctor Doom had a wife and a child who, due to incursions, died. Taking somebody with the same genius and intellect as Tony Stark and putting him down a darker path could give you Doom. Obviously a lot more has to go into that origin, but when you compare Iron Man and Doctor Doom, it makes a lot of sense.

A second civil war over whether the multiverse should be governed

Now it's going to be about free will versus how Doctor Doom thinks everything should be, which is essentially the same thing. I think Doom is going to believe that the multiverse, or the specific universe he builds, should be governed, and governed by him. Steve Rogers, who we know is going to be one of the main characters of Doomsday, along with the other Avengers, are going to say there has to be free will. Then the counterargument is that if there's free will, the entire multiverse can be destroyed: branched timelines will hit each other, incursions will happen, and everyone will eventually die, so it needs to be governed.

That's how it was in Civil War. It needs to be governed; no, we don't need to be governed. At the beginning of Endgame, Tony tells Steve he wanted a suit of armor around the world but Steve said no because it would impact his precious freedoms. Control versus freedom again. I think Doom is going to argue that people like the Avengers, Steve Rogers, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and Monica Rambeau went to other universes, messed with the fabric of reality, and now the entire multiverse is going to be destroyed. That's really what I think the story and the divide will be.

We've heard Doctor Strange is going to be on the side of Doctor Doom, and we've heard Wanda is going to be on his side too. There's a reason: after everything they've seen, they believe Doom is right. I believe he's going to have more followers as well, other variants, and we know he's going to have Doombots, so I expect a big battle at the end. I think that is our second civil war. People who believe the multiverse should be governed and controlled will be with Doom, and people who believe in true free will will be with Captain America, Thor and everybody else.

Seeing Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom as the villain will be emotional

Joe Russo's talk of a complete reinvention also makes me think that part of that reinvention is Tony kind of going into Doom. There is no more Iron Man, but we do have Doom, played by the same actor, and he looks like Tony Stark. I do think there's a little bit of a bleed over between Tony and Doctor Doom, and that's why it's going to be pretty emotional, at least for the audience at first. We've heard that perhaps the people in Doomsday don't see that he looks like Tony Stark at first, but it's going to be emotional for us. It'll be kind of surreal to see the person who was our hero be the villain on screen and defeat the other heroes we've known and loved. Still, I think seeing Robert Downey Jr. go up against Chris Evans again is going to be pretty cool.

It really does look like the Russo brothers are handling this the right way. They said, "The ability to introduce an important new character that audiences don't have a relationship yet until going into this film is an incredible part of it." Basically, they're talking about Doctor Doom. We have a relationship with the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and all the Avengers, but not with Doom. They know introducing him is incredibly delicate and has to be done the right way, and I think they figured out that way.

The actors have been saying similar things. Pedro Pascal talked about sharing big moments with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, saying, "I will tell you there is so much to expect that I wouldn't even know where to begin." Based on what everyone was saying, I think this movie is going to completely kind of change the MCU, and I'm here for it.

About 10 years after Captain America: Civil War, are you Team Iron Man or Team Captain America?