Doctor Doom era loading: Revisiting Robert Downey Jr’s best grey roles ahead of his big Marvel comeback
“New mask, same task”. Prior to Robert Downey Jr’s supervillain era, a look at his best grey roles(Photos: X) Robert Downey Jr unveiled his 2.0 tenure with Marvel at the San Diego Comic-con 2024. The Iron Man veteran will be returning to MCU, however, not as Tony Stark. RDJ will be taking on the brand new identity of supervillain Doctor Doom. The news was evidently kept well under-wraps considering the gobsmacked, raucous response that erupted at Hall H as soon as Robert uncloaked himself. Marvel is currently working on a fifth Avengers installment, previously titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, now rebranded to Avengers: Doomsday, set for a May 2026 release. This will be followed a sixth Avengers film, titled Avengers: Secret War, set for a May 2027 release. With some time to kill before Marvel fans are treated to RDJ’s supervillain era, here’s revisiting the actor’s best grey roles — some acclaimed, some underrated. OppenheimerEasily among his best, Chropher Nolan’s Oppenheimer swept the awards circuit clean, fair and square. As titular lead Cillian Murphy and Nolan dominated the Best Actor and Best Director categories, Robert followed suit with his clean-sweep of the Best Supporting Actor category. He essayed the role of Lewis Strauss, the former Acting United States Secretary of Commerce, a key decision-maker in the development of nuclear weapons and overall nuclear energy policy. Robert skillfully took on the role, going head to head with Murphy’s equally committed and conflicted J Robert Oppenheimer. A BAFTA, a Golden Globe, a SAG and, his first-ever Oscar — Robert’s commitment to playing Strauss won him almost every major accolade up for grabs and is now easily counted among his career-best performances. The JudgeRobert has a penchant for playing a jerk on screen and he does it rather well. What differentiates the veteran actor and his legacy however, is the commendable degrees of complexity his characters tend to dabble with even as they endlessly straddle the line between black and white. David Dobkin’s The Judge (2014), makes for a splendid specimen of this. Robert plays Hank, a successful Chicago lawyer whose return to his hometown prompts a series of domino effects, finally impacting his equation with his estranged father, ‘the judge’. ZodiacDavid Fincher helming a serial killer flick? Say less. If having Robert Downey Jr on board was not enough, Zodiac (2007) also stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo. Robert effectively gets into the skin of the annoyingly overconfident and dismissive newspaper reporter Paul Avery. Grappling with alcoholism as well as direct threats from the Zodiac killer, Robert’s Paul hasn’t gotten nearly enough credit as it should from mainstream cinephiles. Kiss Kiss, Bang BangShane Black’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005) was among the first few films Robert picked up post his much publicised rehab stint. He plays Harry Lockhart, a crook whose confession maken as stellar method acting, lands him a Hollywood screen test. To be clear, the film isn’t all that much. But Robert’s skillful dialogue delivery against the grim yet witty plot, makes it among his more nuanced performances. If you’re a true and blue RDJ fan, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang will prove to be a hidden gem. In DreamsRobert straight up plays a serial killer, Vivian Thompson, in Neil Jordan’s 1999 psychological thriller In Dreams. Seriously underrated and not even that well known, In Dreams may be a little too melodramatic for some. However, it thoroughly showcases Robert’s range almost leaving one wondering why he has seemingly kept his dance from all out negative characters right up until Marvel’s latest plot tw. Are you excited for Robert’s supervillain era?
