Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order definitely noticed when Don Cheadle made his entrance in Iron Man 2, taking over his role from Terrence Howard. Since then he's starred in a ton of MCU projects, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. And the 59 year-old actor recently revealed his hilariously on brand reaction to Robert Downey Jr.’s MCU return as Doctor Doom.
RDJ broke the internet when it was revealed that he's returning to the MCU not as Iron Man, but as the villainous Doctor Doom. He's presumably going to be the big villain of Avengers: Doomsday, and the public is curious about how it's all going to shake out. That remains to be seen, but in a conversation with Collider, Cheadle explained his personal reaction to that news, offering:
I was like, 'What the fuck?’ They're rewriting, they're reworking, and so I honestly can't even tease anything.
Honestly, same. While there were rumors about the OG Avengers returning, no one was expecting Robert Downey Jr. to actually end up going from hero to villain. But thats exactly what's happening, and even Cheadle was shocked by the announcement that came out of D23.
While Don Cheadle's reaction was super relatable, his comments also show how much actors in the MCU are often kept in the dark. Marvel security is notoriously tight, so it makes sense that he wouldn't know much about what's happening with upcoming Marvel movies.
It should be fascinating to see how RDJ's debut as Doctor Doom ultimately goes down in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He'll seemingly be a variant of Tony Stark, where things go terribly wrong. And that means his former friends (including bestie Rhodey) react to seeing someone who resembles their former friend and ally causing trouble. Smart money says some of them are going to have trouble coming to blows with someone with Tony's face.
From the looks of it, Kevin Feige and company decided to bring Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom into play after Jonathan Majors was fired by Marvel from his role as Kang. While some fans debated if Majors could be replaced as Kang, it now appears that the studio is abandoning that plot point entirely, despite it being set up during two season of Loki and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
After some box office bombs in the post-Endgame period of the MCU, it makes sense that the studio would bring back a heavy hitter like RDJ in order to renew excitement about the shared universe. The stakes feel high, and it should be fascinating to see how things ultimately shake out.
Avengers: Doomsday is currently expected to arrive in theaters on May 1st, 2026. For now, check out the 2025 movie release dates.
