Tony Stark is Dr Doom: Marvel’s most desperate move yet

Sunday. Not your average day, as Comic-Con in San Diego is about to host a historic announcement. The supervillain for the next two Avengers films has finally been found, explains Marvel boss Kevin Feige. Apparently, this villain could even become the most important Marvel character of all time, directors Anthony and Joe Russo add.

Dozens of figures in brown capes and iron masks gather on the large stage in Hall C. A new logo can be seen in the background. Avengers: Doomsday. The audience freaks out. «Dr Doom!», some fans already scream. But who could possibly play him? A man steps out of the crowd. His cape is green. Finally, in one elegant swoop, he tears the cape and coat off his face.

It’s… Robert Downey Jr!

Deafening screams. Thunderous applause. The euphoria with which fans infect each other, somewhere between theatre and unbearably protracted tension, is – inevitable.

Feige and his people are beaming. They’ve done it again. The masses got what they wanted, apparently. The dark days of the failing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are over, the multiverse saved.

Or is it?

Puzzles in the dark

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer. Yes, Robert Downey Jr is an incredibly talented actor. I have no doubt that his Dr Doom has what it takes to be one of the best villains in Marvel’s cinematic universe. After all, Downey Jr has already achieved the impossible. His version of Tony Stark has created an archetype for almost all comic book heroes, often copied but rarely equalled since 2008.

Without him, there would be no Tony Stark. No Tony Stark? No MCU.

It’s precisely why I can’t come to terms with this announcement. I tried too. Really. And yet, I just can’t get it through my thick skull. Firstly, for me, Robert Downey Jr is inextricably linked to Tony Stark – literally. It’s impossible to say where Tony ends and Robert begins. Another reason why only Downey Jr was able to capture this symbolic lightning in a cinematic bottle.

Secondly, how the heck are the Marvel higher-ups going to explain that Robert Downey Jr is now just Dr Doom? Is he simply supposed to be an evil Tony Stark from another universe? Or is he really playing the classic Victor Von Doom from the comics, and all the other MCU characters are just pretending it’s not a problem that he looks exactly like Tony Stark?

I have questions. Questions crying out for an answer. The laziest version Marvel could give us? This Victor Von Doom is actually Tony Stark abandoned in another multiverse as a baby. He then grew up in the fictional Eastern European microstate Latveria and became technologically gifted dictator Dr Doom.

Yawn.

Marvel’s identity crisis

And that’s the least of my worries. Marvel’s announcement did garner the desired media attention. But it also shows that Feige and his people have understood absolutely nothing. «When Tony Stark died in Avengers: Endgame, the MCU died with him,» I’ve often heard people say. Marvel too, probably. Their reaction: «Okay, then we’ll just bring Tony Stark back. Problem solved.»

No, Marvel. That’s not the problem. And bringing back Robert Downey Jr certainly isn’t the solution.

The truth is, since introducing the multiverse, we’ve been bombarded with an abundance of movies and series. Keeping up to date feels like doing homework. New characters are often shallow teenagers scoring fake diversity points. And worst of all: if a character dies, they can simply be replaced by another version from the multiverse. Take Iron Man. Literally.

Worse still, Marvel’s films have degenerated into expensive yet efficient marketing campaigns – and the characters in them have become brand ambassadors. The focus is on senseless cameos and cross-references to other comic book adaptations, without reason or consequence. In cinemas, the multiverse has so far only worked in Deadpool & Wolverine. But only because the characters in it make fun of precisely this deconstruction of the once brilliantly successful MCU.

This has been Marvel’s situation for five years now. Maybe even longer. Brand advertises brand. And then there’s the obligatory post-credits scene that – you guessed it – advertises the next movie.

Absurd right?

Pure despair

What the MCU lacks is a well thought-out direction of travel. A concept. One that prioritises quality over quantity. One in which characters, not the brand, take centre stage in stories. And above all, one that doesn’t rely on the cheap humour only capable of raising a laugh from kids watching the Disney Channel on Saturday mornings.

Here’s an example. Remember that scene in Captain America when the still skinny Steve Rogers supposedly selflessly throws himself on a dummy hand grenade to save more suitable candidates on a military base? It’s perhaps the most heroic scene in the entire Marvel canon, since Steve doesn’t even have his powers at this point. That was what once made Marvel so successful: inspiring stories about honest, good characters, only accidentally becoming superheroes.

Marvel better start thinking about how they can steer the MCU back in that direction. A direction in which characters, not brands, are at the centre of attention.

Instead, Marvel is comfortably relying on old horses that have already been retired. True, they were once successful, but Marvel itself probably never understood why. A bit like that old anecdote in which a husband gives his wife a pearl necklace to appease her, without really realising what’s actually bothering her.

In short, what Marvel showed off last night at Comic Con in Hall C wasn’t really an epochal announcement at all – it was pure desperation.