Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has now answered flatly. Speaking to Empire Magazine, Feige said the answer is no: "He's Victor Von Doom."

To doubters he offered a precedent from within the franchise's own history, pointing to Chris Evans' return across Marvel eras and asking, "Is Steve Rogers a Johnny Storm variant?"

The statement matters because it reframes the casting as a role built for an actor, not a narrative shortcut to resurrect Iron Man.

According to Empire, co-director Joe Russo frames this Doom as genuinely menacing in a way past screen versions never were. "Doom is a Gothic character," Russo tells the magazine.

"He says, 'Hell answers to me,' and he's not kidding. He's a very powerful character with some very dark magic, and he's not above selling his soul to get what he wants. He's worth being scared of."

After compromised portrayals in 2005's Fantastic Four and the 2015 reboot, the directors are promising the fearsome, formidable figure Marvel fans know from the page.

Empire reports the fear factor is underpinned by grief. Russo teases that Doom is "a father who's a victim of trauma" who "has lost a child," adding that early viewers describe Doomsday as "a very scary movie" precisely because the villain is "so profoundly damaged."

Anthony Russo draws a sharp line from the last saga's big bad: "Doom is much more ego-driven than Thanos. Thanos believed he was serving a greater good."

Downey himself admits the recalibration took a moment — invoking Michael Douglas in Falling Down, he tells Empire he realised a couple of days into shooting that he was the problem, then leaned into "this glorious time."

The villain arrives at a moment of unprecedented disarray, which is the point.

Kevin Feige tells Empire that Sam Wilson's Avengers will include Thor, Falcon (Joaquin Torres), Ant-Man and Shang-Chi, alongside the New Avengers — Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, John Walker and "Bob" — facing Multiversal Incursions after "years of seemingly no organized Avengers team."

ScreenRant also notes Pedro Pascal's description of a science-minded bond between Reed Richards and Doom, "a mind that is equal, if not superior, to your own."

Yahoo reports more than 30 confirmed returning stars, including Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and a wave of Fox-era X-Men: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden.

The surprise comes via Disney+'s VisionQuest, whose post-credits scene shows Doom lifting rubble to reveal Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda, declaring, "Scarlet Witch awaken, your power will be mine."

Notably absent from the list: Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brie Larson, Mark Ruffalo and Ryan Reynolds — though omission, Yahoo cautions, is not proof of absence.

Downey teases scale to match the threat: "I like a bit of scorched earth. Whatever you think he may be entertaining, I would ten times it."

Empire's full 22-page Doomsday coverage lands in its January 2027 issue on November 19, and the film reaches cinemas December 18, kicking off Phase 6 ahead of Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027.

CBR notes the Russo brothers draw Secret Wars inspiration from both Jim Shooter's 1984 original and Jonathan Hickman's 2015 run — with Doom promising, per the coverage, a remake of the MCU "in his image."