The Russo Bros. have officially revealed when Robert Downey Jr. make his gran return to the MCU and begins filming his scenes as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.
Fans were shocked to learn that the MCU's longtime on-screen leader, Robert Downey Jr., would be taking on the role of Doctor Doom.
The official announcement was made at San Diego Comic-Con, but since then, Downey Jr. explained what brought him back to the universe he was a vital part of for 11 years.
Robert Downey Jr. To Start Playing Doctor Doom Next Year
In an interview with Collider at New York Comic-Con that was shared via YouTube, Avengers: Doomsday directors Joe and Anthony Russo sat down to talk about the upcoming film, where they specifically revealed when it will begin shooting.
According to the Russos, Avengers: Doomsday will begin filming sometime in Spring 2025, meaning that cameras will finally begin rolling soon.
This means that Robert Downey Jr. will begin shooting his first scenes as the MCU's Doctor Doom in spring as well.
The Russos also confirmed that the Russos revealed Avengers: Doomsday received an official start date for when filming will begin, but that date was not revealed. Joe Russo, who answered the question, just said, "We do (have a start date). It's in the spring."
The directors were then asked if it would be filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, or London, England. Joe Russo playfully poked and said they "[hadn't] made up [their] minds yet," before revealing that they did know where filming would take place:
"We haven't made up our minds yet. I'm kidding, we have. You know, it's probably better not to say."
In other parts of the interview, the Russos talked about where the team is in the writing process and how far along the script for the upcoming film is.
Joe revealed that the team is "right in the middle of the writing process," and that longtime MCU writer Steve McFeely (who penned scripts for films such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame) is "writing the script" for Avengers: Doomsday:
"We are right in the middle of the writing process. It's Steve McFeely that's writing the script."
Collider also asked if the Russos were heavily involved with the scriptwriting process, to which Joe confirmed. Anthony then chimed in and explained that "[they've] always worked very closely with [Christopher] Markus and McFeely:"
"I mean we've always worked very closely with Marcus and McFeely through all the work that we've done together, and yeah, that's the absolute."
Joe then added how they are "partners in AGBO with [them]," which is the Russos' entertainment company, so they are all "very tight collaborators:"
"And they're both partners in AGBO with us. I mean, this is, you know we're very tight collaborators, all of us, yeah."
The directors were then asked if Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars would be shot back-to-back like Infinity War and Endgame were.
Joe confirmed that "it'll be similar," but that there will be "a larger break in between" the two films than there was between Infinity War and Endgame:
"It'll be similar, but we're not, we'll have a larger break in between the two movies than we did. I think it was four weeks, maybe? Do you remember, was it four weeks in between?"
Anthony claimed that it was even less than four weeks between filming in the previous two Avengers movies before revealing that Doomsday and Secret Wars will be "more properly" separated:
"Yeah, I think it was a couple of weeks, but no, no, these are more properly, that they're not as separated as you would normally separate two films of this scale, but they're more substantially separated by a year or so."
How Much Will Robert Downey Jr. Have to Film For Avengers: Doomsday?
With Avengers: Doomsday (which is one of Disney's five biggest movies of 2026) rolling cameras sometime in Spring 2025, fans can expect Robert Downey Jr. to dedicate a lot of his upcoming time to the MCU.
Hence the name, Doctor Doom will likely play a major role in the movie, so Downey Jr. will probably have to be in front of the camera quite a bit.
Filming a movie on the scale of an Avengers film takes a substantial amount of time, but it is also important to pay attention to what the Russos said regarding when Secret Wars will begin filming.
As they mentioned, Infinity War and Endgame essentially shot back-to-back with only a couple of weeks of a break in between.
Doomsday and Secret Wars are only slated to be released one year apart from each other (the former will hit theaters on May 1, 2026, and the latter on May 7, 2027), so there won't be much time in between for there to be a break from filming.
So, Downey Jr. and the other cast members (such as Tom Holland, who will reportedly be featured in Doomsday before his own Spider-Man 4 film) will have to film Doomsday in Spring 2025 (which will undoubtedly last months) before turning around and shooting Secret Wars not long after.
Therefore, the actors involved with Avengers: Doomsday will have to dedicate a lot of their schedules to the MCU for the majority of 2025 and likely a large portion of 2026 as well.
It is also important to note that the upcoming Avengers films won't be the only Marvel projects that the MCU veteran will be featured in, as Downey Jr. will also reprise his role as Tony Stark in two new rides at Avengers: Campus in Disneyland.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on May 1, 2026.
