Pedro Pascal And Robert Downey Jr. Switch Marvel Roles In Holiday Surprise

Published Nov 2, 2026, 7:31 AM EST

Hannah Gearan (she/her) is has been writing for ScreenRant for over three years. Her deep cinema love traces back to age 11, when she equipped herself with a spiral-bound notebook, rated all the films she watched, and declared herself a critic. About a decade later, she received a BA from Wesleyan University, where she studied Film, Environmental Studies, and Writing. Hannah’s short film, Toxic Faucets, has screened at numerous film festivals, including the Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston). As a Movie News writer now, she draws upon her vast experience studying, making, and analyzing film as she approaches dynamic breaking stories. 

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Spooky season is rounding out, and two Avengers: Doomsday actors are enjoying one last moment of dressing up.

After years of anticipation, just over a month remains before audiences finally get to watch Avengers: Doomsday on its December 18 review. As the Doomsday trailers reveal, the Marvel movie will see the return of several key characters from the series, including Chris Evans as Captain America. The superstar cast will also include several actors from more recent MCU installments, including The Fantastic Four: First Steps actors Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Vanessa Kirby. Robert Downey Jr. is also making an MCU return, this time in a different role.

In a joint post on Downey Jr. and Pascal's official Instagram pages, the actors are paying playful homage to their upcoming roles. The video starts with two people dressed in Halloween-style costumes, one with a Doctor Doom mask and the other in a Reed Richards suit, putting his hands in front of his face. The hands slip down on Reed Richards to reveal the actor's eyes, and they are removed as the other person's lifts their Doctor Doom mask to reveal they have character swapped — Downey Jr. is dressed as Reed Richards, and Pascal is filling the role of Doctor Doom.

This playful post is great hype for Avengers: Doomsday, showing a positive off-screen relationship between two of its cast members. The Fantastic Four: First Steps released just last year and Downey Jr. has not made an MCU appearance since Avengers: Endgame, so this will be this particular duo's first time on screen together. This novelty will allow for new character relationships to be built, and their positive rapport off-set is a good sign that things went similarly well on camera.

Doctor Doom's presence is an especially anticipated element of Avengers: Doomsday. Despite being a major villain in the Marvel Comics, the character has yet to appear in the mainline MCU (apart from a cameo in the First Steps end credits), instead being relegated to the Fantastic Four movies. Given Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark died in Endgame, it was also a somewhat controversial decision to bring him back in a new role for Doctor Doom. As such, audiences will be locked in not only on Doctor Doom's appearance, but on how Marvel will handle his likeness to Iron Man.

All of these anticipated elements will come to a head soon as Avengers: Doomsday comes to theaters. The fifth movie in the main Avengers franchise, the movie has a high chance to reach tremendous box office heights during this winter season. It will have to get past the same-weekend release of Dune: Part Three and the soon-to-follow Jumanji: Open World to do so, but the draw of big names like Pascal and Downey Jr. may just do the trick.

Avengers: Doomsday

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  Victor von Doom

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  Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic

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  Thor

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  Vanessa Kirby

  Sue Storm / Invisible Woman