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Following the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. had been cast as Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the main reactions from fans was to clown on actor Jonathan Majors, who was previously locked in as the MCU’s next “big bad” prior to his legal troubles.
According to reports, Robert Downey Jr. is commanding at least $80 million and a bevy of other splashy perks for his role of Doctor Doom — who is currently confirmed to be in two Avengers movies and will likely cameo elsewhere, probably next summer’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
While Johnathan Majors would’ve certainly never fetched RDJ money, the fact remains that the highly-coveted role of the MCU’s next central villain was supposed to be him, not Downey — 2026’s Avengers movie was supposed to be subtitled Kang Dynasty, not Doomsday.
After Downey’s return to the MCU was confirmed, TMZ — of course — was able to catch up with the disgraced actor to get his thoughts on the development.
“Yeah, heartbroken. Of course,” Majors said when asked how he felt about Marvell’s new villain choice. “I love Kang. Doctor Doom is wicked, though.”
The Creed III star –who charged with two misdemeanors, assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree — was then asked if he thinks it’s unfair that Robert Downey Jr. (and Ezra Miller) were allowed to continue playing their respective superhero characters while Majors was instantly canned following his conviction.
“I think it’s fair that Mr. Downey is being and has been greeted with patience and curiosity and love, and that Mr. Miller has gotten the same treatment,” Major responded when the TMZ reported asked if he thinks he’s been treated unfairly compared to those two. “And [he’s] being allowed to work [his] art and be creative at that level. I didn’t really get that.”
While Majors certainly does have a point about Ezra Miller — the former The Flash star has been accused of assault, theft, grooming, and harassment — the Downey Jr. comparison is entirely off based as the Academy Award winner was charged with felony drug possession and a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon. Of the three, Majors’ and Miller’s alleged crimes harmed someone else, while Downey Jr’s were entirely self-inflicted.
Furthermore, Warner Bros. only stuck with Miller because too much of The Flash had been filmed and have since swiftly cut ties with him, while Downey Jr. didn’t star as Tony Stark until eight years after his last arrest in the year 2000.