Original Doctor Doom Actor Julian McMahon on Robert Downey Jr. Playing the Villain: "It's Going to Be Pretty Extraordinary"

Julian McMahon, the actor who brought Doctor Doom to life in the early 2000s Fantastic Four movies, is just as intrigued as the rest of us about Robert Downey Jr. stepping into the villainous role in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

McMahon told Screen Rant: "It's Robert, you know what I mean? What are you going to say? His body of work speaks for itself. He's a super talented guy. I love watching his work."

McMahon’s time as Doom existed in a very different era, before the Marvel Studios became the juggernaut it is today under Kevin Feige. Back then, he says, the Fantastic Four movies were still figuring out their identity.

"When we did the movies years ago, we were at the [precipice] of all that stuff happening. So, we were finding our way a lot, and we were trying to figure out what space the movie itself lived in.

“Was it a kid's movie? Was it a family movie? Was it more comedy-driven, or was it more trauma-driven? We were trying to find all that stuff as we were shooting."

He continued: "If you've got Robert Downey Jr, who's one of the great creatives of the last however many years we've been watching him for, mixed with the elements of how we can make movies these days? I think it's going to be pretty extraordinary."

McMahon first played Victor von Doom in Fantastic Four (2005) and reprised the role in Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). It’s been a long time since I’ve watched those movies, so I don’t remember if he was good or not. But, Downey Jr. taking on the role of Doom is going to be really interesting to see.