Is the MCU’s Doctor Doom a Variant of Iron Man?

As if the abundance of Marvel veteran cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine wasn’t enough, Marvel shocked the world at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend with the announcement that yet another MCU alum would be returning to the silver screen.

Clad in all green and sporting the signature cape and mask, Robert Downey Jr. took to the stage to reveal he’s joined the cast of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as none other than Doctor Doom, the iconic Marvel villain most frequently found butting heads with the Fantastic Four.

But while plenty of fans are elated to see Robert Downey Jr. back in the MCU (and plenty of others have some legitimate reservations about this bold casting choice), the fact that he’s already the star of the franchise as Iron Man has many wondering how/why Marvel’s new big bad is wearing the face of its most iconic hero. Though the MCU has no shortage of sci-fi/fantasy ways to explain away double-casting RDJ, the franchise’s exploration of alternate universes and timeline variations in recent installments poses an intriguing question: Is Doctor Doom a variant of Iron Man?

Is there a Doctor Doom/Iron Man Connection in the Comics?

Since the second the news dropped, there’s been no shortage of speculation about just how Marvel is going to explain RDJ’s casting in-universe, and thankfully for MCU fans, there’s a wealth of resources to look to for answers: i.e. comics. So, has Marvel ever done a comic run where Doctor Doom is a variant of Iron Man, or where Tony Stark somehow dons the (other) metal mask?

Surprisingly, yes! At least, very nearly. In the 23rd issue of Marvel’s 2003 comic run Exiles, there’s a variant of Tony Stark introduced from Earth 42777 whose egomaniacal aspirations and thirst for power leads him to briefly align with Doctor Doom in a bid to take over the world. After forging a secret alliance with Doom and getting him to attack the White House, Earth 4277 Tony then turned around and backstabbed him, taking Doom’s iconic green cape as trophy. This tyrannical, world-dominating, Doom cape-wearing version of Iron Man called himself “Iron Monarch,” and though he doesn’t actually ever go by the name “Doctor Doom,” it’s certainly the closest Tony Stark has come in the comics to being Doom.

Is Doctor Doom an Iron Man Variant in the Comics?

But while there may be a little remembered comic out there that sees an alternate version of Tony Stark ascend to power in a very Doom-esque way, that’s not the same as Doctor Doom the character canonically being a variant of Iron Man. After all, Doom has his own storied history in Marvel Comics (the character actually predates Iron Man). Making him an Iron Man variant (at least in the MCU) would raise plenty of larger world-building questions, certainly for characters like The Fantastic Four.

As of right now, there’s no comic out there in which Doctor Doom is an Iron Man variant—though there is one where they switch bodies—but that doesn’t mean that won’t be Marvel’s explanation for how he and Tony Stark share a face. Until we’re much closer to Avengers: Doomsday, though, it’s anyone’s guess just how Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom will fit into the larger cosmos of the MCU.