Deadpool & Wolverine Teased Robert Downey Jr.’s Evil MCU Return

Deadpool & Wolverine promised to be packed full of winks and nods to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s past, present, and potential future. The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-led threequel regularly teased fans of what was to come in its promotional material, from featuring objects from yesteryear like Moon Knight‘s ice cream truck to hinting at what’s to come down the line in the form of a . One object that caught fans’ attention in early Deadpool & Wolverine trailers was Red Skull’s coupe, the vehicle of choice for Hugo Weaving’s Johann Schmidt in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Warning – The rest of this article contains light spoilers from Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine Teased Robert Downey Jr.’s Evil Return

Unlike other objects in The Void, Red Skull coupe came with a twist.

As showcased in Deadpool & Wolverine marketing material, Red Skull’s coupe is missing its Hydra hood ornament. Instead, an Iron Man helmet emblem is in its place. The sides of the car have flames as well, a signature style of Tony Stark’s, indicating that this coupe belongs to the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist.

The implications of this vehicle go deep. Red Skull’s signature car being remade in Tony Stark’s image and residing in The Void teases that there is a branch timeline out there where Red Skull’s villainous role is filled by Iron Man instead. There’s no telling whether this means Iron Man fully becomes the Red Skull or if he is just the leader of Hydra, but either way, the implication is that Stark is prone to going down dark paths.

This past Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con, Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. was revealed to be playing Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars films. Doomsday and Secret Wars directors Joe and Anthony Russo introduced Downey as playing Victor Von Doom, which emphasizes that he is playing the Doctor Doom character himself, not a Tony Stark variant. This could be a similar situation to that of Chris Evans’s, as he plays both Steve Rogers and Johnny Storm, but neither character is a variant of the other.

Even if Doom and Stark are not variants, their agendas run parallel. 

“New mask, same task,” Downey teased at SDCC.

It remains to be seen as to how Marvel Studios will explain Downey’s Doom and his connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Deadpool & Wolverine emphasized that dark sides of Tony Stark exist in the wide-reaching multiverse.