Gwyneth Paltrow Confused by Robert Downey Jr’s Return to the MCU
Fans were excited, perplexed, and incredulous during the Marvel Hall H panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con over the news that Robert Downey Jr. has been cast as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday – but perhaps the most unable to believe what they were seeing was Gwyneth Paltrow.
Having starred opposite Downey Jr. as Pepper Potts in seven Marvel productions, Paltrow couldn't understand how her beloved partner had gone rogue.
Posting to his 56.9 million Instagram followers, Robert Downey Jr. shared an image of him staring into the Doctor Doom mask with the caption, "New mask, same task."
Fans, colleagues and people from around the industry flooded the comment section.
The Russo brothers even got in on the fun, commenting, "We've always said green is your color..."
But Gwyneth Paltrow cut through the noise, saying, "I don't get it, are you a baddie now?"
She's asking the question people want an answer to because many fans couldn't believe their eyes that their loveable anchor being was now heading for the dark side.
we don’t get it either gwyneth
— harv (@harvv) July 28, 2024
she represents all of us ??
— Vishwajit Patil (@_VishwajitPatil) July 28, 2024
Speculation has been rife since the announcement, with many fans believing the only viable option can be that Doom is a Tony Stark variant – even though it was confirmed at the SDCC panel that this was not the case.
Guys, he's a variant. Some people really think this is a case where he's just cast in a new role like Gemma Chan or Michelle Yeoh. It's not. He a Tony Stark variant who's evil. Idk, I think the person who was the anchor of this universe, now wanting to destroy it is fucking GAS. pic.twitter.com/0orbN5EHa4
— Duane Miller @ SDCC (@Cinemaniac94) July 28, 2024
I get that. It definitely reeks of desperation on Disney's behalf. They're clearly trying to capture the lightning in a bottle twice with this casting and if anyone can pull it off - it's RDJ, but a the same time, I can't but feel disappointed with this on fundamental level.
It…— Z.J. Majewski (@ne0mega) July 28, 2024
Marvel may have said that Downey Jr. will not be a variant, but Deadpool & Wolverine producer Wendy Jacobson revealed in a recent interview with GamesRadar+ that Marvel has gotten creative in sneaking around behind fans' backs.
Jacobson told them, "There may or may not have been some subterfuge and misdirections on the internet or in-person in order to protect the secrecy" during the making of Deadpool & Wolverine.
So, could the news that Doom is not a Stark variant be more subterfuge? Only time will tell.
