The Grandmaster actor calls Downey’s comeback “excellent news.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe got a major shakeup over the summer with the news that Robert Downey Jr. has been cast as the franchise’s take on Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom. Downey, who previously starred as Tony Stark / Iron Man in the franchise, will be stepping into the role in the next two Avengers films, 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. The return has already garnered a wide array of reactions from former and current MCU stars — and apparently, we can now add Grandmaster actor Jeff Goldblum to that list. During a recent appearance on Happy Sad Confused, Goldblum was asked to share his thoughts on Downey’s return — which he did, before going on a tangent about the name Victor von Doom itself.
“Excellent news,” Goldblum answered. “I think I vaguely heard the… yes, yes, I’d heard whispers on my peripheral. Yes, channels. Victor von Doom… I like that name. If my name had been Victor von Doom, I’d be a long further along than I am now. That’s a great name. Or Von to anything. Or Van.”
Why Is Robert Downey Jr. Returning to the MCU?
In the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast, Downey revealed that his return as Doctor Doom was first floated a year or so prior, and came about through conversations with Marvel Studios exec Kevin Feige.
“Probably a year ago, because Feige and I have kept in touch,” Downey revealed. “We’re pals. Favreau and Feige and I have kept in touch. I’m close with the Russo brothers. We have other business we’re doing. So there’s this little group of fellow travelers, and I had this instinct that I wanted to go to Bob Iger. And I had an idea, outside of the cinematic universe, for how I could be of service to what’s going on in the parks and all their location-based energy. And Susan and I were sitting down with Feige at one point, and he said, ‘It just keeps occurring to me that, if you were to come back…’ And Susan was like, ‘Wait, wait, come back as what?’ And then we both realized, over time, that it was another thing that just disproves any doubt anyone could ever have about that guy. [He’s] a very sophisticated, creative thinker about, ‘How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to to beat expectations?’ And he brought up Victor von Doom, and I looked into [the] character, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ And later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor von Doom right. Let’s get that right.’ So then I said to Kevin, ‘Can I go talk to Bob Iger?’ He goes, ‘About?’ I go, ‘About everything.'”
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to be released exclusively in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.
