What is the story about?
David Harbour may have inadvertently dropped a huge clue about Avengers: Doomsday for Marvel fans. The actor, who reprises his role as Alexei Shostakov
aka Red Guardian in the upcoming Marvel crossover, appeared to let slip a mysterious line involving Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark. When Doomsday was announced, the biggest surprise was RDJ's comeback to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rather than returning as Iron Man, the actor is taking on the role of Victor von Doom, the iconic Fantastic Four villain. He is set to take down every Marvel superhero assembling to fight him, from F4, X-Men to a new batch of Avengers.
Did David Harbour spoil or tease MCU fans?
In an interview with Variety, Harbour was asked to say a line from Avengers: Doomsday completely out of context. And in Red Guardian's familiar Russian accent, he pointed and said, "You... are Tony Stark."
The short answer immediately had Marvel fans speculating. Whether Harbour was joking or just throwing out a fictional line, the possibility that it was actually from the film has raised some interesting questions about Downey's role.
Would Red Guardian know Doctor Doom is Tony Stark?
The most straightforward explanation is that Red Guardian is speaking to Doctor Doom, played by Downey Jr in Avengers: Doomsday. If Harbour's line is true, then one possibility is that Doom eventually rips off his mask and Red Guardian instantly recognises his face as being identical to that of Tony Stark.
That would also explain why Marvel cast Downey in the role, considering that the actor had already played Tony Stark throughout the MCU until Avengers: Endgame.
This idea is really interesting because Doctor Doom is usually known for hiding his face behind his metal mask. One of the great mysteries of Doomsday is whether audiences will get to see Downey's face as Victor von Doom.
Is Doctor Doom really a Tony Stark clone?
Another way would be to tie the film into Marvel's growing multiverse. The MCU has already teased alternate versions of familiar characters with projects like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Loki. Avengers: Doomsday is expected to be a massive multiversal crossover event, seeing the main MCU heroes joined by the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. That opens the door for a potentially huge twist: Victor von Doom may be an alternate-universe version of Tony Stark.
The Fantastic Four's universe, first introduced in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, has been labelled Earth-828. Fans have theorised that, if that reality never had a Tony Stark of its own, Doom could potentially fill a similar narrative role in that universe. However, there is no current confirmation that Victor von Doom is a Tony Stark variant.
Can Tony Stark come back?
There is another stronger possibility. Harbour's line could conceivably be about an alternate version of Tony Stark and not Doctor Doom. Avengers: Doomsday will incorporate the multiverse, so sure, there could be a different universe with a different Iron Man. That would allow Downey to play both Tony Stark and Doctor Doom, though there's no official word that Marvel has such a storyline in mind.
Tony Stark's original MCU version died defeating Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, so a straight-up resurrection doesn't seem like an easy option.
Fans make guesses around David Harbour's line
For now, Harbour's "You… are Tony Stark" remark should be regarded as an interesting tease and not a confirmation of spoilers. Maybe the actor was trolling fans on purpose, or maybe he was just improvising a line or letting something slip that Marvel wanted to keep secret.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theatres on December 18, 2026, and fans will finally know if Harbour's shocking line was a genuine hint or a massive Marvel prank.
