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Robert Downey Jr. promises 'Avengers: Doomsday' will actually be good
Remember when Marvel Studios was hailed for the consistently high-quality of their movies? Apparently Marvel does, as franchise star Robert Downey Jr. says they channeled that while making Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel Studios better hope Avengers: Doomsday is a return to the form of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, as it’ll be the true litmus test of where these movies currently stand in the culture.
Deadpool & Wolverine made over a billion in 2024. Since then, however, the MCU’s theatrical releases have been Captain America: Brave New World ($415 million and regarded as one of the worst MCU movies ever made), Thunderbolts (which is actually quite good but topped out at $382 million globally), and Fantastic Four: The First Steps (which made “only” $521 million despite featuring Marvel’s First Family).
Marvel movies will seemingly always have a consistent quality and box office floor. But the studio will likely be hoping that Avengers: Doomsday can get them back to the apex of cultural dominance that it enjoyed in the 2010s.
Robert Downey Jr. says they figured out how to not make Avengers: Doomsday a “let down” after Infinity War and Endgame
“We landed in a place that I think will more than suffice. And it’s not even about how I executed it. It’s about the way it’s been structured, and the other characters. There’s something going on in Doomsday and forward that is literally the only antidote to: How do you not have these films be let down after an Infinity War and an Endgame?,” RDJ told CBR.
“And boy, have we labored long and hard to bring that down… There’s an incredible amount of gratitude we have going into these two. One epic at a time. Doomsday… just the gratitude to be able to do it. To still be engaging with people who are critical when we fall short, but who understand how difficult it is when we get it right.”
Downey Jr. is the wildcard in all of this, as the reaction to the film will largely live and die not only based on his performance as Doctor Doom, but on the merit of the decision, in general. Since his casting was announced, opinions of casting the former Iron Man star to play Doctor Doom were split, if not leaning toward the negative side of calling it cheap stunt casting.
That could all change with a performance from Downey Jr. that resonates and a narrative explanation that genuinely legitimizes the decision.