The brand new Avengers: Doomsday trailer is right here, and a few followers consider it has just a few clues that recommend the movie is hiding two Physician Dooms – and possibly even a cameo from Cillian Murphy.
Warning! Potential spoilers for Avengers: Doomsday observe.
Marvel Studios has seemingly been fairly forthcoming in the case of the forged for this yr’s new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film. Of the lengthy lineup of A-listers on the decision sheet are faces from the X-Males, Incredible 4, and extra, however the casting alternative that has remained controversial amongst followers since its announcement is Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom.
The few Avengers: Doomsday clips we have seen to this point have revealed the hero-turned-villain star’s in-costume look – or have they? That is the query followers have been asking for the reason that team-up movie’s new trailer arrived as a part of D23 2026. With tens of tens of millions of viewers in only a few days, it is clear the video has one thing to supply forward of the total premiere in December, however some consider it is hiding just a few clues about Physician Doom duplicates, too.
“All of you could have lived stolen lives,” he may be heard saying in between photographs of a screaming Reed Richards performed by Pedro Pascal. “However now you will need to give them again.”
The place previous sneak peeks for the film have not dived too far down the Victor von Doom rabbit gap, the D23 trailer is basically more about him than any of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It begins with Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm speaking concerning the Latverian chief as somebody who “was sort” and “caring” earlier than we then see him toss Thor like an ant and lift a military of sentinels. Though he definitely appears to current an Avengers-level menace that would rival Thanos, the dialog surrounding his id lies within the particulars.
Just a few close-ups of the magic-powered villain’s eyes are all we actually get in the case of glimpses of what is behind his steel masks, however that is all followers on-line wanted to fire up dialog. You see, this character has bluish-green eyes, whereas Downey Jr.’s are brown. This Physician Doom additionally has a small mole subsequent to one in every of his eyes, the place the actor believed to be enjoying him doesn’t.
Clearly there are 2 Dooms with RDJ being the faux doom https://t.co/g3okvI7hmH
— Suki 💅 (@_SuksTeR_) August 15, 2026
“One seems blue. The opposite video seems brown,” one fan speculated after the trailer was launched. “Is there multiple Doom?”
“I believe there can be two Dooms,” one other said. “The actual Doom, and a Tony variant.”
The concept, then, is that the Doom we have seen here’s a completely different one from the Doom Downey Jr. is enjoying. If these are actually our first indicators that Avengers: Doomsday options multiple Physician Doom, then the following logical query is ‘Who’s enjoying the opposite one?’ Many on-line consider Murphy, who’s greatest identified for starring in films like Oppenheimer and 28 Years Later, makes essentially the most sense. He was a preferred fancast choose as Marvel put the brand new Avengers film collectively behind the scenes early on. He additionally occurs to have a lot lighter eyes.
Cillian Murphy talking Romanian and Romani 👀 Might he be the actual Physician Doom? 🤯#AvengersDoomsday pic.twitter.com/JLVGubmJTA
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) August 16, 2026
If the rumors about Cillian Murphy really enjoying the actual Physician Doom are true…
is that this a casting improve or downgrade?👀#AvengersDoomsday pic.twitter.com/YQm5JJ9SEm
— Echo ↬ (@vikku60879) August 16, 2026
If that is true, I wager I do know who the opposite Dr. Doom is. https://t.co/SovOL6rxL1 pic.twitter.com/pmHwjRmpnp
— Comics Defined (@comicsexplained) August 15, 2026
Many consider Downey Jr. may very well be enjoying a good-guy model of the character, leaving the evil one to be performed by Murphy and even another person. Different theories rattling round social media feeds have revolved round a shock return for Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, an alternate Reed Richards, or, if Marvel is feeling actually daring, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers.
That is all proof {that a} thriller actor is enjoying Doom and never the previous Iron Man star, proper?! Properly, no. As others have identified, that mole may appear a bit unusual, however some mixture of film magic and particular contact lenses may simply clarify away these discrepancies. That is finished little to cease the theories from spinning on.
“That is actually simply RDJ with coloured contacts y’all overthinking it lol,” one fan argued.
“lmao they aren’t paying RDJ multi tens of millions to play a faux Doom,” one other teased.
“Why not? They paid Ben Kingsley tens of millions to play a faux Mandarin,” one other person replied.
In the meantime, the looks of a second, new costume for Victor von Doom that popped up at D23 has helped gasoline the Avengers: Doomsday idea fireplace via the weekend. Some blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments within the trailer additionally present what seems to be a smoother, much less indignant masks design and a extra simplistic swimsuit. It does appear odd that the massive dangerous man would care sufficient about his vogue to have barely completely different outfits for particular events.
Even then, although, we already knew Doom can be switching his garments. The costume and masks featured in most promotional materials is already fairly completely different from what we noticed at the end of last year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The reasoning behind the change is unclear, with some suspecting one is likely to be for preventing off superheroes, whereas the opposite is used when Doom needs to favor extra peaceable strategies.
Physician Doom is carrying his two completely different costumes in the identical scene pic.twitter.com/2DjTt8dosr
— Marvel Good Gifs & Clips (@MCUPerfectGifs) August 15, 2026
🚨 This idea proves there are two Physician Dooms in Avengers: Doomsday
When Physician Doom is thrown from that tower-like construction, he modifies his outfit mid-air and lands carrying a swimsuit that appears much less armored.
However later, when he’s seen preventing Thor, you possibly can see the identical… pic.twitter.com/pJufmcWZdp
— Marvel Decoded (@MarvelDecoded) August 15, 2026
No matter whichever aspect of the idea fence you fall on, it is arduous guilty the followers of a cinematic film universe that has reveled in multiversal shenanigans for the final seven years. Character variants have, fairly famously, occupied the identical display screen quite a lot of occasions. If Spider-Man did it, Physician Doom can too, proper?
It is definitely doable, however there may be a lot, way more MCU to look at earlier than we get all the solutions. Avengers: Doomsday will pull again its inexperienced curtain to clear up lots of its mysteries when it premieres December 18, 2026, but it surely’s removed from the tip. The movie will then lead immediately into Avengers: Secret Wars, which will not arrive till one other yr later, come December 17, 2027.
So, will there be two Physician Dooms? Is Downey Jr.’s character the movie’s villain or its hero? Will Iron Man come again from the useless? We’ll have to attend to seek out out. Till then, you possibly can see how Marvel announced the first batch of cast members for its new X-Men movie. You may as well take a look at the new trailer for the upcoming MCU TV show, VisionQuest. Lastly, remember to atone for all of the biggest D23 news from the Disney Entertainment Showcase right here.
Picture by Jacob King/PA Photos through Getty Photos.
Michael Cripe is a contract author with IGN. He is greatest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Make sure to give him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).