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Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: the Russo Brothers are directing the next big Avengers movie and, in the run-up to the big marketing push from Disney, they’ve posted a cryptic image on Instagram that has everyone looking for hints about new announcements. As we all wait for Avengers: Doomsday to blast into the box office in 2026, the Russo Brothers are repeating their Endgame playbook with an image and a simple message: Look hard.

The image was posted to Instagram on September 30, 2025, more than a year before Avengers: Doomsday comes out. It seems simple enough, with a man sitting in a chair while surrounded by seemingly random backstage materials. However, the Russo Brothers know their audience. They know we’re going to scour this simple image over and over to find even the smallest clues about what is coming in Avengers: Doomsday, which is exactly what we did because we are a predictable sort.

There are a couple of things that jumped out at us. That bit of scenery on the left half of the image is simultaneously an A (Avengers) and a 4 (Fantastic Four). There are a bunch of Xs on the wall to the right. That’s the X-Men reference we’ve been looking for. None of which required us to “look hard” as the caption suggests.

That’s when we spotted it: Doctor Doom in his flowing cloak at the top of the A/4. We say Doctor Doom, but it could easily be Sentry, with that shadow streaking down to the floor. However, considering the title of the movie, we’re expecting this to be a Doctor Doom reference and that it is actually Robert Downey Jr. sitting in that chair, obscured by shadows.

As for why the Russo Brothers are teasing a Doctor Doom more than a year after we found out he’ll be the villain of this movie and that RDJ is playing him, we couldn’t say for sure. Is an image of Robert Downey Jr. in costume coming soon? It is still far too early for a trailer, but some early images probably wouldn’t be out of the question. Or maybe this is just their way of trying to repeat the success of Avengers: Endgame by playing the same marketing trick.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters