Jeff Goldblum’s Perfect Reaction to Robert Downey Jr.’s Return as Doctor Doom

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) experienced a major shakeup over the summer with the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. has been cast as the franchise’s Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom. Downey, who previously portrayed Tony Stark / Iron Man in the MCU, will step into this new role in the next two Avengers films — 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. This casting decision has sparked a wide range of reactions from both former and current MCU stars. One of those stars, Jeff Goldblum, who played the Grandmaster, has now shared his thoughts on Downey’s return during a recent appearance on Happy Sad Confused.

“Excellent news,” Goldblum remarked. “I think I vaguely heard the… yes, yes, I’d heard whispers on my peripheral. Yes, channels. Victor von Doom… I like that name. If my name had been Victor von Doom, I’d be a long further along than I am now. That’s a great name. Or Von to anything. Or Van.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Downey revealed that his return as Doctor Doom was first considered about a year ago through conversations with Marvel Studios executive Kevin Feige.

“Probably a year ago, because Feige and I have kept in touch,” Downey explained. “We’re pals. Favreau and Feige and I have kept in touch. I’m close with the Russo brothers. We have other business we’re doing. So there’s this little group of fellow travelers, and I had this instinct that I wanted to go to Bob Iger. And I had an idea, outside of the cinematic universe, for how I could be of service to what’s going on in the parks and all their location-based energy.”

Downey continued, “Susan and I were sitting down with Feige at one point, and he said, ‘It just keeps occurring to me that, if you were to come back…’ And Susan was like, ‘Wait, wait, come back as what?’ And then we both realized, over time, that it was another thing that just disproves any doubt anyone could ever have about that guy. [He’s] a very sophisticated, creative thinker about, ‘How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to beat expectations?'”

“And he brought up Victor von Doom, and I looked into [the] character, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ And later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor von Doom right. Let’s get that right.’ So then I said to Kevin, ‘Can I go talk to Bob Iger?’ He goes, ‘About?’ I go, ‘About everything.'” Downey shared.

Avengers: Doomsday is slated for exclusive theater release on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.

Source: ComicBook