Doctor Doom’s casting has sparked one issue in the Marvel fandom that is complicated by one character’s presence in Captain America 4.

The casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom has been controversial, to say the least, as a lot of fans believe that bringing in the Iron Man alum might be a cheap trick by Marvel to win back fans who have been largely alienated by Marvel’s disastrous 2023 run.

Doctor Doom || Credit: Marvel Comics

However, there is one other issue that has irked fans about Doctor Doom’s casting in the MCU, which focuses on the fact that Doom is a Romani character. Doctor Doom in the MCU comes as a part of a long line of similar casting goof-ups, where characters have been race-swapped for no discernable reason. This is further compounded by the fact that some fans are miffed that this care was taken to cast an Israeli actress in an Israeli role, but not anywhere else.

Moon Knight, Ancient One, Doctor Doom- Marvel has one recurring issue when casting certain characters

Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton || Credit: Marvel Studios

The Ancient One in the MCU is of European descent, and that is something that fans took a lot of issue with within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Ancient One is usually portrayed as a Tibetan man, as opposed to a Celtic woman. A similar issue cropped up when it came to characters like Moon Knight, who is traditionally Jewish, but is a role essayed by Oscar Isaac.

While there has been race-accurate casting in the MCU, as is the case with Sam Wilson and Kamala Khan, these studio missteps have been flared up by the fact that an Israeli actress who has served in the IDF has been cast in the race-accurate role, especially given all the controversy surrounding the IDF’s actions in Gaza.

The casting of Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph was previously expected to play Sabra, who has had connections to Mossad in the comics, but has since been turned into a Black Widow operative, following the backlash regarding her casting. The announcement also came at a time when there was an escalation in the Middle East, which contributed to the news being received badly. Her associations with Mossad were allegedly removed from the film, instead making her a close confidant of Thunderbolt Ross, who will be finally turning into the Red Hulk in the MCU.

Fans are a little miffed at the fact that Doctor Doom is not played by a Romani in the MCU

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man || Credit: Paramount

The fact that Doctor Doom is not going to be played by a Romani actor has a lot of fans miffed at Marvel’s casting choices. Taking to X, they talked about how these issues have been present in Marvel movies for quite some time.

The attitude towards Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom has been largely mixed, but the issues that arise from casting an actor that does not match the ethnicity of the character is something that has been at the forefront of this conversation. While some are convinced that RDJ’s casting is a simple red herring, others are convinced this might be one of the ways in which Marvel would like to win back their fans.

Avengers: Doomsday hits theatres on May 1st, 2026