Robert Downey Jr. on Avengers: Doomsday: ‘We’ve laboured long and hard’ to avoid the post-Endgame curse

As the much-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday prepares for its December release, Robert Downey Jr. and director Joe Russo have spoken candidly about the heavy shadow cast by the previous films, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Russo admitted that creating a film of Infinity War's scale was an arduous process, involving two and a half years of hard work to keep the ensemble cast satisfied with their story arcs.

Despite the strain, Downey Jr. hailed Infinity War as the most significant film in the franchise, explaining that its emotional resonance remains with audiences due to its structure and the characters within it. He stressed that the key to preventing a post-Endgame letdown lies in the film's story, not his performance as Doctor Doom.

Russo echoed this sentiment, highlighting emotional depth as the antidote to a letdown after such high-stakes films. He emphasized that complexity enriches a story and makes it more engaging for the audience, noting that Doomsday ventures further into this emotional complexity than any previous Avengers film. Russo also mentioned that the stakes are continually increasing, but emotional complexity is always the answer to creating a richer, more immersive experience.

Despite Marvel's mixed results since Endgame in both theatrical films and Disney+ series, the studio's recent box-office successes, such as Deadpool & Wolverine and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, have given them the momentum needed to tackle Doomsday. However, whether the film can truly escape the comparisons to its predecessors remains to be seen.