Ahead of filming for Avengers: Doomsday, Doctor Doom star Robert Downey Jr. has come out with an exciting new choice in hairstyle.
As confirmed by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at CinemaCon 2025, Avengers: Doomsday is mere days away from kicking off its production schedule. Leading the way in a star-studded cast will be Downey as Victor Von Doom, taking a steep departure from his 11-year tenure playing Tony Stark/Iron Man.
New Hairdo for Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom
United Kingdom hospitality worker Alessio Caputo shared an image on Instagram of himself with Avengers: Doomsday star Robert Downey Jr. as the movie gets ready to start filming. The shot came from a birthday party Downey held for himself.
The pic shows Downey with a haircut he has never used in any of his previous MCU outings, which featured him as Tony Stark.
This time, his hair is far shorter on the sides of his head (shaved on the left side) and far longer than usual on the top, complete with a few grey streaks going through it.
Below is a comparison picture showing Downey's usual look when he played Tony Stark/Iron Man and the new longer haircut he will seemingly sport for Doomsday:
Interestingly, this is a much different look than Downey sported when he showed up at the end of a lengthy video announcing the Avengers: Doomsday cast, which was released as a live stream on March 26.
In that video, Downey had a shorter haircut closer in style to what he has on a regular basis. The video was likely filmed a few weeks ago, with Downey growing it out for his comeback to the MCU.
What Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom Haircut Means
With Downey now boasting a new haircut, this should be one of multiple ways Marvel plans to differentiate his two iconic comic book characters. Although Downey's Doom and Iron Man are confirmed to connect to one another, Doomsday is going to have to do enough to make sure fans know which one is which.
This will also be the first of various instances of Marvel using visual differences to help fans keep up with the multiple Variants sure to be introduced in Doomsday and, eventually, Avengers: Secret Wars.
Directors Joe and Anthony Russo further teased that connection with a Doctor Doom/Iron Man-themed picture to celebrate Downey's 60th birthday. Now, as filming starts, fans will only look forward to more news about how Variants like this will come into play.
Featuring characters from the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men, Doomsday is setting up to be the biggest comic book movie in history based on the cast alone. Combine that with plenty of action, drama, and emotion, and Marvel is sure to have something that has the entire fandom talking for years to come.
