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He’s baaaack!<\/span><\/p>\n Robert Downey Jr. <\/a>is returning to the MCU, and this time, there’s no question about whether or not he’s the bad guy.<\/span><\/p>\n The Marvel legend made an epic surprise return during the studio’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, taking the stage following the reveal of <\/span>Joe and Anthony Russo’s return<\/a> to direct the next two <\/span>Avengers<\/span><\/em> films.<\/span><\/p>\n As it turns out, <\/span>Avengers 5<\/span><\/em> — which was previously titled <\/span>Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,<\/span><\/em>\u00a0but scrapped amid Jonathan Majors’\u00a0<\/span>ongoing legal issues<\/a>\u00a0— is now titled <\/span>Avengers: Doomsday<\/span><\/em>, with Downey as its villainous mastermind.<\/span><\/p>\n The Russos said that cast Downey — who, obviously, played MCU mainstay Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, in nine MCU films — “proof of the unimaginable possibilites in the Marvel multi-universe.”<\/span><\/p>\n “I mean, this is potentially one of the more entertaining characters in all of fiction,” they teased before Downey’s big reveal. “If we’re gonna do this, if we’re gonna bring him to movie theaters worldwide, then I think were gonna need the greatest actor in the world to play that character.”<\/span><\/p>\n “New mask, same task. What’d I tell you, I like playing complicated characters,” Downey told the Comic-Con crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n Avengers: Doomsday<\/span><\/em> will kick off the end of the <\/span>MCU’s Phase 6<\/a> in May 2026, followed by <\/span>Avengers: Secret Wars<\/span><\/em> in May 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n