Marvel Studios was the talk of the town at Comic-Con once again. Hot off the heels of the blockbuster release of the new film, Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel had fans buzzing with the studio’s Hall H panel on the evening of Saturday, July 27. The panel offered a huge look into what’s next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the next two Avengers movies.
First up, most notably, Robert Downey Jr. is back in the MCU. Marvel confirmed that the actor best known for his performance as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the franchise will now be taking a more villainous turn. He’ll be the MCU’s version of Doctor Doom, aka Victor Von Doom, joining the MCU in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday!
RELATED: DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Set for Dedicated Hall H Panel on Thursday at the San Diego Comic-Con
All in all, it was a jam-packed jaw-dropping panel. Things kick off with a celebration of the new blockbuster smash-hit, Deadpool & Wolverine, with a choral performance of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” with a group of dancing Deadpool variants. But first, here’s a main recap of what went down during Saturday’s panel.
MARVEL STUDIOS DELIVERS A JAW-DROPPING HALL H PANEL AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL
Following the opening Deadpool & Wolverine performance, Marvel Studios President and producer Kevin Feige looked for Peterpool among the variants, calling for Rob Delaney to the stage. Delaney joined Feige on stage, noting the earlier screening of the film that went down on Thursday during SDCC for con attendees. This was followed by a massive drone and fireworks show at Petco Park.
The film has been nothing short of a box office smash. It opened with $211.4 million at the domestic box office, shattering records for an R-rated theatrical release. It also pushed the MCU franchise past $30 billion with 34 movies. The first major showcase was the upcoming Captain America sequel, Captain America: Brave New World!
The Brave New World showcase featured star Anthony Mackie taking the stage along with co-stars Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Ramirez, and Giancarlo Esposito. Esposito was confirmed as the villain, Sidewinder, the head of the Serpent Society. The presentation revealed new footage before inviting Harrison Ford to the Stage. Of course, Ford debuts in the MCU as the new actor for President Thaddeus Ross, who will also become the Red Hulk in the film.
In the upcoming sequel, Sam Wilson, aka Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident. It’s now up to Sam to discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red. The film opens in theaters on Feb. 14, 2025.
The curiously titled Thunderbolts* was also featured during the panel. Director Jake Schreier was on hand alongside stars Geraldine Viswanathan, Lewis Pullman, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, and David Harbour. Harbour appeared in his full Red Guardian costume. A scene from the film was also shown.
The upcoming film features the returning Florence Pugh as the depressed assassin Yelena Belova. The group is described as “the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits.” The film also stars Olga Kurylenko who returns as Taskmaster. It opens in theaters on May 2, 2025.
The panel also confirmed the official title for MCU’s upcoming Fantastic Four franchise reboot. The new title has been confirmed as The Fantastic Four: The First Steps. Feige was joined onstage by director Matt Shakman. The upcoming film will introduce Marvel’s first family. The main cast was also on hand for the panel including Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/Thing). You can check out the title treatment of The First Steps below:
The panel confirmed that the film will feature the world eater known as Galactus and the herald Silver Surfer, who have targeted Earth for destruction. The panel then showed the Fantasticar soaring over the card, and the screens offered a look at the retro-futurist version of New York City that will be depicted by the film. The film will also feature music by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino. It will hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
THE RUSSO BROTHERS RETURN TO THE MCU FOR AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY AND AVENGERS: SECRET WARS
Feige dropped a major bombshell for the Avengers film franchise during the panel. It looks like the MCU is pivoting away from the Kang the Conqueror saga due to the recent issues involving Jonathan Majors. First up, Anthony and Joe Russo, who previously directed four MCU installments, are back. They will helm Avengers: Doomsday, due out in May 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars, due out in May 2027.
So it looks like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is now totally done and off the table. So it now looks like the MCU is moving away from Kang the Conqueror and pivoting toward Doctor Doom, aka Victor Von Doom, who will officially join the MCU. Marvel Studios brought out a group of robed figures dressed in Doctor Doom masks before the stage parted the way for Robert Downey Jr., who was announced as the actor who will portray none other than Doctor Doom.
Speaking on the announcement, the Russos stated, “Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou, and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves.”Â
Marvel Studios also confirmed that the Russos’ production company, AGBO, will produce both of the Avengers sequels. Also, Stephen McFeely, who worked as a writer on the Captain America film trilogy and Avengers: Endgame, is handling the script duties. Having Downey come back to the MCU as Doctor Doom is a bold and ambitious move.
It also looks like Marvel Studios is now trying their own course correction after some stumbling blocks in The Multiverse Saga. It remains to be seen how all this will pan out. Hopefully, the brain trust at Marvel Studios has a good plan behind the casting of Downey as Doom, and this will pay off in big time. Additionally, Doctor Doom is best known as a Fantastic Four villain. Will he still have an association with Marvel’s First Family, or will he target Spider-Man and the Avengers instead?
Also, does the casting of Downey as Victor Von Doom mean Doctor Doom will be a variant of Tony Stark from another dimension in the Multiverse? That would make this very personal for Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man when he comes back into the fold. Maybe the idea is that Doctor Doom will be more of a Spider-Man and Fantastic Four villain instead.
RELATED: CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Delivers Its First Trailer
It does raise many interesting questions. If this was just a move made out of desperation after some disappointing installments, it could be more brought times ahead. However, creative pivots after past mistakes are not always a bad thing.
Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine is playing in theaters now. You can also check out a video clip of the reveal of the casting announcement of Downey as Doctor Doom below:
What do you think of the news? Are you excited about Robert Downey Jr. rejoining the MCU as Doctor Doom? Do you think this is a good move? What do you think about Marvel Studios’ upcoming output? Let us know your thoughts about the upcoming movies on The Illuminerdi’s social media.
KEEP READING: DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE Review – Fan-f*$@ing-tastic Film That Will Have Audiences Explode Their Pants With Feelings
