Over the weekend Robert Downey Jr. was announced as Doctor Doom. Downey’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe has long been rumored. The driving force being Marvel’s lack of Post-Endgame success. Many see this as an act of desperation. I don’t disagree. But this is a case where you can’t undo what you’ve done.

Marvel had to do something dramatic. They didn’t necessarily have to scrap the entire Kang Dynasty storyline. Maybe it is best that they did. It goes beyond Jonathan Majors’ off-screen issues. The fact is that the buzz and excitement that once accompanied the Marvel logo has fizzled out. Kang, an interesting character to be sure, didn’t move the needle.

However, Doctor Doom will absolutely grab the attention of Marvel's core audience.  Marvel doubled down and are bringing back the Russo Brothers to direct. Go big or go home. They went big. Do this right and it might just feel like 2019. But if they get this wrong, they might as well shift from a soft rebuild into a full reboot.

The only way that I can see the casting working is if Downey plays a variant of the Tony Stark character culled from a different timeline. Stark and Victor Von Doom, the man behind Doctor Doom’s mask, have a lot in common. Both are rich, egomaniacs who are deeply enamored by their own opinions. Neither can see themselves as a villain. The qualities that make a hero are in many ways the same as what makes a villain.

Captain America: Civil War is built around Stark’s steadfastness. Right or wrong, Stark is unwavering.

My fear is that Marvel may be tempted to make Downey’s return as an excuse to resurrect Downey’s Iron Man. That somewhere between Doomsday and Secret Wars, Doom has a change of heart and looks into the camera to announce, “I am Iron Man.” Our Tony Stark had a noble ending. Please, let him keep it.

As for the character, I’m not a Doctor Doom scholar, nevertheless I can’t help but feel like Doom isn’t being given the treatment the character deserves. He’s not just a throwaway character and he’s already been shortchanged in Fox's Fantastic Four films.

Doom deserves the sort of build that Thanos was given. I don’t see how the current plan allows for that.

I won’t mind being wrong. I hope that I am. If nothing else, for a moment Marvel and Hall H were all anyone was talking about. I didn't see that coming.