Avengers: Endgame Encore has just hit screens with added footage that will bridge the gap between the 2019 movie and Avengers: Doomsday. However, one scene in particular has convinced fans that Robert Downey Jr.’s new villain, Doctor Doom, and his past Marvel character Tony Stark are somehow connected. Well, the plot has thickened as Doomsday co-director Anthony Russo has now spoken on the matter.
During an Avengers: Endgame Encore Q&A attended by GamesRadar+, Russo was asked whether there is any “connective tissue” between Tony Stark and Doom, to which he replied, “You tell me. Look, it’s certainly a pregnant question. But I will say that we are fully committed to Robert Downey as Victor Van Doom, and yes, there is a curiosity around the casting, but you know everything is best left for the theater.”
The theory really started to take flight after Endgame Encore footage leaked online earlier this week, including an edited post-credits scene that teases Doom’s arrival. The original Endgame post-credits features a clanging hammer noise, which harkens back to Tony Stark making his Iron Man suit in the first movie. However, in Encore, the noise is followed by images of Doctor Doom forging his mask.
This could be the Russos’ way of repurposing the sound. But fans think this directly ties the two characters together, suggesting that Doctor Doom made his suit at the same time as Stark did. This would mean that the two have been living parallel lives in separate universes, and that Doom is actually a Tony Stark variant. Now, that would make a lot of sense, as the two characters are played by the same actor. How else will the Russos explain how Doom and Stark share the same face? That is, if Victor ever takes his mask off.
Stark dies at the end of Endgame after making the sacrifice play to stop Thanos, so there is little chance of the two coming face to face. But if Doom really is a Stark variant, his unmasking will certainly take Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and the rest of the stacked cast of Marvel heroes by surprise.
Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas on December 18, and December 16 in the UK. For more, check out our guide to the Marvel timeline, and keep up with upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way.