If you were worried Anthony and Joe Russo wouldn’t be able to handle the magnitude of Doctor Doom’s universe-shaking arrival in the MCU, think again.

In the Avengers: Doomsday directors’ foreword to ‘Time Runs Out’ – an iconic Jonathan Hickman-penned comic that charts the end of several Marvel universes and serves as a key touchstone for Doomsday – the pair cut to the heart of Doom’s psyche.

The full foreword is available below, and as part of the latest Time Runs Out, but it’s the Doom-centric sections I want to point to here.

It reads, “Doom is not just an adversary. He is ambition and fear woven together. In Secret Wars, he tries to hold reality in place through sheer will. He believes he can save everything if he controls enough of it. Hickman reveals the strain behind that effort and the human fragility beneath the armor. Even someone who can reshape existence cannot escape the emotions that define him.”

If we’re getting something even close to the Doom who would become God Emperor on Battleworld in the MCU, we’re in for a good time. He’s a deeply complex, fearsome character, who is able to bend reality to his whim – but is unable to get out of his own head. Perfect, then, for a Robert Downey Jr. performance filled with tragedy and self-loathing, and not entirely a million miles away from his Oppenheimer role of Lewis Strauss.

“We have always been drawn to characters who walk that line,” the Russos continued. “People who reach for something noble and lose themselves along the way. Sometimes, destruction does not arrive as a single blow. It arrives through decisions made in uncertainty and through fractures between people who want the same thing but cannot find their way to each other. That is its own kind of ending. It is quiet, painful and incredibly human.”

While there has been some consternation over Downey Jr.’s Doom voice, recent trailers have assuaged most fears thanks to the supervillain’s presence and pathos-tinged delivery.

The next major glimpse at Doom will likely come in the re-release of Avengers: Endgame this September.

Officially titled Avengers: Endgame Encore, a recent cinema listing has confirmed it will feature four extra minutes of footage as part of its runtime.

Then, the road to Doomsday – and Doom – begins. Avengers: Doomsday hits cinemas on December 18.

For more, check out our guide to upcoming Marvel movies.