Another Marvel Cinematic Universe cameo from Robert Downey Jr. breaks Avengers history in a very important, very specific way. Marvel audiences have known for a while that RDJ is set to appear in the franchise once more in two upcoming Marvel movies. However, this time he will be the MCU’s main villain, Doctor Doom, as opposed to its central hero, Iron Man. As a result of this, RDJ’s villainous character has appeared several times in recent years to set up the actor’s new role, most recently in VisionQuest‘s shocking post-credit scene.
This scene saw Doom awakening and recruiting the Scarlet Witch, who was thought to have been killed in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The first appearance of RDJ’s Doom in the MCU, however, came a year earlier than VisionQuest, in the post-credits scene of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In this scene, Doom was again showing interest in an MCU character, this time the infant son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, Franklin. The third major tease for Doom also came in 2026 as part of the new footage found in Avengers: Endgame Encore.
One scene as part of Avengers: Endgame‘s re-release showed Bruce Banner hiding in an underground bunker after his Hulk incident in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Bruce was shown being visited by Doom, who insisted he was coming to collect the former. Thanks to these three scenes, Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom has made Avengers history by becoming the joint most-teased villain of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The other villain to hold this record is, of course, Thanos, who was the main antagonist of the Infinity Saga.
Now, as Thanos’ equivalent in the Multiverse Saga, Doctor Doom has appeared three times in the MCU before his main appearance, just as the Mad Titan did before him. Thanos appeared in post-credits scenes in both 2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, the latter coming a year after his several cameo scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy. This adequately teased his antagonistic role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, with Doom’s three scenes making franchise history by doing the same for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
VisionQuest’s Doctor Doom Cameo Shatters Avengers: Doomsday’s Biggest Criticism
What this record makes immediately clear is that the biggest criticism of Avengers: Doomsday is rendered null and void. Since the MCU pivoted towards Doom and Avengers: Doomsday instead of Kang the Conqueror and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the common criticism raised about the former movie is that it hasn’t been teased enough in surrounding MCU projects. These complaints were often placed in competition with Thanos and the Infinity Saga, stating that the build-up to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame was much more complete than that of Doom and Avengers: Doomsday.
Audiences often mistake Thanos’ setup for that of the Infinity Stones, which were central to the villain’s plan and scattered throughout the Infinity Saga’s many movies, even those in which Thanos didn’t appear. As a result, this somewhat skews the perception of the masses, to the point where Thanos is deemed a villain who was extensively teased in the MCU over 10 years before his first major appearance, while simultaneously viewing Doctor Doom as the opposite.
That said, Doctor Doom’s third MCU appearance in VisionQuest now matches the three that Thanos had before Avengers: Infinity War, making them all square in terms of physical roles. Beyond that, the multiverse will be what the entire plot of Avengers: Doomsday and its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, will revolve around, much like the Infinity Stones were for Thanos’ two movies. Since 2019, the multiverse has been used extensively in the MCU, arguably even more than the Infinity Stones were in Phases 1-3.
Combining this with Doom’s Thanos-matching appearances, the argument that the former has received less setup than the latter falls completely flat. Going into Avengers: Doomsday after VisionQuest, RDJ’s version of the character sets a record for the MCU’s sub-franchise, with the multiversal shenanigans of the last decade only supporting how well the villain has been established, even despite the late pivot away from Kang the Conqueror.
- Release Date
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2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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Disney+
- Showrunner
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Terry Matalas
- Directors
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Vincenzo Natali, Christopher J. Byrne, Gandja Monteiro, Terry Matalas
- Writers
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Terry Matalas, Cindy Appel, Nicole Falsetti, Christopher Monfette, Matthew Okumura, Michael Taylor
