“There’s nobody better than him”: James Gunn on the One of the Most Talked About MCU Castings of 2024

The superhero genre has now become an undeniable part of pop culture, thanks to Marvel and DC. The new DCU has already begun with the release of Creature Commandos, written by James Gunn, and he still remains the one who knows how things work in both powerhouse studios.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going through a lot of changes lately, as it looks to wrap up its multiversal saga by the end of 2027. Among them, one big change has been in talks for a while now, and Gunn recently shared his opinions about it.

James Gunn on Robert Downey Jr.’s Casting as Doctor Doom

The MCU was going with the storyline of Kang as the next big bad after Thanos. However, Jonathan Majors‘ legal troubles began, and he was dropped by the end of 2023. Marvel decided to cast a bigger threat for the Avengers and brought Robert Downey Jr. to play the role of Doctor Doom.

Downey’s announcement broke the internet, as probably no one was expecting him to return after having such a legendary story arc and a heroic ending as Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame. Recently, James Gunn was asked about his opinions on Downey as Doom on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, to which he replied,

I thought it was a smart move. I was excited about it. And I also love Robert, so I think that’s cool. I think it’s a great idea. I think there’s nobody better than him.

In his appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Downey revealed that it was Kevin Feige who came up with the idea of him as Victor Von Doom. The actor then researched the character, and they went to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who immediately liked the plan.

Moreover, according to insider Daniel Richtman on X, it was not Majors’ lawsuits that triggered the idea of bringing Doom into the MCU. According to him, “there wasn’t much hype around” Kang, and Marvel decided to go with the “gimmick casting of RDJ as Doom to get people excited for the Avengers,” and it worked.

Is Doctor Doom Better than Kang for the MCU?

When Kang was first introduced as his variant, He Who Remains, in Loki Season 1, he was established as someone who was controlling every event in the multiverse by deleting alternate branches and saving his own timeline to thrive himself.

However, although it was established that he could control time at his will, Loki was able to outsmart him in Loki Season 2. A similar thing happened in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where someone like Ant-Man was able to stop Kang with the help of his friends and some ants.

These storylines sort of reduce the fear the character should possess to become a multiverse-level threat. Although the Council of Kangs was introduced, it would have worked like multiple variants of Kang are causing chaos in the multiverse, which is almost like one villain against one superhero.

But if the MCU decides to follow the comics, Doctor Doom will be one single threat to every hero in the multiverse. That already puts him much higher than Kang on the level of fear and power. In comics, Doom has done incredible feats like defeating Fantastic Four, defeating Galactus, almost becoming Sorcerer Supreme, and many more.

Moreover, Marvel might not need to alter the motives of their big villains, as both have similar intentions. He Who Remains was protecting his own timeline because he believed it was the only thing that would prevent multiversal chaos.

Similar to that, Doom created his own Battleworld from the remnants of universes after incursions in Secret Wars, as he believed it was the only thing that could be done. Now, with a big name like Robert Downey Jr., Marvel could easily build up his introduction without worrying much about rewriting his motives.

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