‘Avengers: Doomsday’ targets greaAs Avengers: Doomsday nears its December release, Robert Downey Jr. and director Joe Russo have spoken openly about the challenge of following Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame and ensuring the new film does not feel like a step down.
Speaking to CBR, Russo acknowledged the intense demands of making a film on the scale of Infinity War. He told filmmaker Steven Soderbergh that the production was a gruelling process that lasted more than two and a half years, as the team worked to give its sprawling ensemble cast satisfying character arcs.
Despite the challenges, Downey Jr. described Infinity War as the most significant film in the franchise, saying audiences often connect the movie with personal memories and the stage of life they were in when they watched it.
“It’s not even about how I executed it,” he said. “It’s about the way it’s been structured and the other characters. There’s something going on in Doomsday and forward that is literally the only antidote to ‘How do you not have these films be a letdown after an Infinity War and Endgame?’ And boy, have we laboured long and hard to bring that,” he explained.ter emotional stakes than ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’.
That legacy is part of what makes Doomsday such a challenging proposition. Downey Jr., who now portrays the villainous Doctor Doom, said the challenge goes beyond his individual performance and lies in the way the story is constructed. He suggested the film’s structure is intended to be “the only antidote” to the risk of disappointing audiences after Infinity War and Endgame.
Russo shared a similar view, arguing that emotional depth rather than spectacle will be crucial to keeping the franchise engaging. He said greater complexity allows stories to resonate more deeply with audiences, and suggested Doomsday pushes that approach further than any previous Avengers film.
Russo said the film’s stakes continue to rise, but emotional complexity remains the key to making the story more impactful. He described Doomsday as the most emotionally complex and, in many ways, the most mature instalment in the Avengers franchise, while teasing that audiences can expect plenty of surprises.
Marvel’s performance since Endgame has been mixed, with the studio expanding its output across theatrical releases and Disney+ series with varying results. Downey Jr. has previously said projects such as WandaVision helped him remain connected to his character during the pandemic.
Following recent box-office successes including Deadpool & Wolverine and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Marvel is heading into Doomsday with renewed momentum. Whether the film can escape comparisons with the massive success of Infinity War and Endgame, however, remains to be seen.
