Avengers: Doomsday is officially ending a 14-year MCU streak that could hurt its reception and box office. Marvel Studios released its first four Avengers movies in seven years from 2012 to 2019, meaning that the greatest ensemble franchise in history has now been absent for just as long as it was around. Fortunately, that absence is finally ending this year and next through Doomsday and Secret Wars, although the franchise will look vastly different upon its return. Not only is Avengers 5 adding more teams into the movie through the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and New Avengers, but most of the original team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes is gone, with only Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Chris Evans' Steve Rogers returning for now.
Marvel Studios officially released Avengers: Doomsday's epic concept art poster from designer Andy Park that, sadly, ends a 14-year MCU streak. The artwork is filled with hype as the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and New Avengers collide under the terrifying gaze of Doctor Doom, but there is a glimmer of sadness.
For the first time ever, on one of these massive Avengers movie posters that acts as a floating head collage of MCU heroes, there is no sign of Iron Man. Granted, Robert Downey Jr. is still present, albeit under Doom's intimidating mask, but the Doomsday photo ends a streak of Tony Stark being front and center on every Avengers movie ensemble poster since the franchise began 14 years ago.
Beyond his solo Iron Man trilogy, the first four Avengers movies effectively acted as a second leading franchise for RDJ's Tony Stark. Having developed by far the largest fan base during Phase 1, the Armored Avenger was established as the face of the team-up franchise, appearing prominently on every new poster and trailer.
If anything, Avengers: Age of Ultron only amplified Tony Stark's centrality to new heights, as it was his choice to create the A.I. Ultron, alongside Mark Ruffalo's Brice Banner, that created the central conflict. The decision was the direct result of the PTSD that Stark suffered from, after almost dying and struggling to save the world in The Avengers, which had been explored prominently in Iron Man 3.
Find out how Ultron is returning to the MCU later this year, and not in Doomsday.
Josh Brolin's Thanos was positioned as the lead of Avengers: Infinity War to establish the Mad Titan's villainy (a formula that will be copied for RDJ's return in Doomsday). However, on the heroic front, Tony Stark still served as the emotional anchor among the movie's superheroes, as his greatest fear of an attack from the stars, dating back to his PTSD from The Avengers, was finally fulfilled by Thanos.
Despite starting Avengers: Endgame stranded in space, Iron Man's stardom continued into the Infinity Saga's climactic chapter, serving as his swansong and the conclusion of his emotional arc. Tony Stark solidified his legacy and genius by creating the time travel that helped resurrect half the universe, getting closure with his father, Howard Stark, and making the ultimate sacrifice to defeat Thanos, the very threat that he spent the last 11 years of his life fearing.
This time around, Doomsday faces a whole new challenge: not just resurrecting the Avengers franchise at a time of declining interest in the MCU, but doing so without the main character fans grew to love. That may have been a factor in bringing back RDJ as Doom, with the hope of ensuring the actor remains linked to the franchise, even if he is hidden behind a mask for most of the runtime.
Regardless, after 14 years, the days of Iron Man being a face of the Avengers franchise are truly over. That decision will make Doomsday the first true test of whether the Avengers brand alone (with support from the X-Men and Fantastic Four) can carry a movie to box-office glory when it hits theaters on December 18.
Will Iron Man Return in the MCU's Next Avengers Movies?
Seven years after his exit from the MCU with Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios finally has Robert Downey Jr. back in its contractual clutches for Doomsday and Secret Wars, and he's estimated to receive a hefty payday of over $100 million. The studio will undoubtedly be eager to get their money's worth out of RDJ's return to reinvigorate interest in the MCU, and that could include him playing dual roles.
While Iron Man coming back into play in Doomsday is likely out of the question, Secret Wars and its Battleworld setting bring limitless potential. As Doom pulls together the Multiverse's surviving remnants into his patchwork domain, perhaps an Iron Man Variant who also bears RDJ's face could surface on Battleworld.
If Doom discovered that a genius superhero with his face was on Battleworld, it's easy to imagine him locking them away in his castle's dungeons. The heroes resisting Doom's reign could come across this Iron Man Variant in their fight, enlisting him into their cause to play a crucial role in restoring the Multiverse.
Despite the MCU's Doctor Doom seemingly being a (somewhat) accurate adaptation of the Latverian villain who just happens to be played by RDJ, most fans are convinced he will somehow be linked back to Iron Man. Including a Tony Stark Variant could aid in that complicated exposition, as calling back to a hero who won't have appeared in eight years by then certainly invites confusion.
