Yep, Robert Downey Jr. Was Actually Considered For Marvel's Doctor Doom
It's crazy, but we could have remembered Downey Jr. as a villain.
To mark the 15th anniversary of the first MCU film, Iron Man, Marvel Entertainment released a conversation between Kevin Feige and the director that made it happen, Jon Favreau.
So many things contributed to the film's success — an impressive CGI, a thrilling origin story, and of course, Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role.
2008's Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. have benefited each other. Downey Jr. delivered an outstanding performance as Tony Stark, making everyone believe he was born for this role, while the film skyrocketed his career, eventually making him Hollywood's highest-paid actor.
However, before Jon Favreau saw the spark in Robert Downey Jr. that immediately made him realize "he is the right guy," Robert Downey Jr. had been considered for another role in a Marvel movie, interestingly, as a villain.
During their conversation, Kevin Feige revealed that Robert Downey Jr. was under consideration to play Doctor Doom in 2005's Fantastic Four.
Just imagine this scenario: Robert Downey Jr. portrays Dr. Doom in Fantastic Four, three years later the MCU is born, with Iron Man starring another actor as Tony Stark. Who knows, the MCU could have ceased to exist right after its birth.
There is no doubt Robert Downey Jr. would've been great in the villainous role, but then we would've never seen the best on-screen Iron Man. Anyway, let's leave the speculations for the second season of Disney Plus' What If.
Fans got excited as Dr. Doom is highly expected to make a debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He may first appear in the MCU's reboot of Fantastic Four or in Avengers: Secret Wars. If Downey Jr. assumes the role of the menacing character, fans will be over the moon.
However, it's unlikely to happen. Firstly, even though Doctor Doom is a popular antagonist and has a potential to bring chaos throughout multiple projects, it is doubtful that Marvel is eager to shell out for the actor.
And secondly, it will be totally weird if Dr. Doom has the same appearance as the deceased Tony Stark.
Source: YouTube