Robert Downey Jr and Pedro Pascal swap MCU roles as Mr Fantastic and Dr Doom for Halloween 2026
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Pedro Pascal and Robert Downey Jr. joined forces to build anticipation for their upcoming Marvel film, ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ On the occasion of Halloween 2026, Pascal and Downey Jr. surprised fans by swapping their roles and capes.
While Downey Jr. dressed up as Pascal’s Reed Richards, aka Mr Fantastic from ‘Fantastic Four,’ Pascal transformed into Downey Jr.’s upcoming supervillain, Victor Von Doom, who is set to be at the center of ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’
Pedro Pascal and Robert Downey Jr. trade MCU roles for Halloween
Downey Jr. and Pascal traded off their MCU roles for Halloween 2026. In a video shared on the ‘Iron Man’ star’s Instagram, captioned, “Victor. Richard. Costume swap!” Pascal can be seen wearing Doctor Doom’s signature steel mask, green hooded cape and a green MIT jersey. Meanwhile, Downey Jr. can be seen transforming into Reed Richards by wearing his blue ‘Fantastic Four’ superhero suit.
In another playful video shared on Pascal’s Instagram story, the ‘Last of Us’ actor, wearing Dr Doom’s costume, is seen walking arm-in-arm with Downey Jr.’s Reed Richards. Both the actors appeared to have fun outdoors while making goofy faces at the camera.
The Halloween transformation comes less than two months before the release of ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom and Pascal’s Mr Fantastic are expected to have a major onscreen clash and intense face-off in the upcoming MCU film.
Pascal made his MCU debut as Reed Richards, aka Mr Fantastic, in the 2025 film, ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps.’ Meanwhile, Downey Jr. is set to make his highly anticipated MCU return as Doctor Doom after playing Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, for over a decade, before putting down the mantle in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
Robert Downey Jr. and Pedro Pascal got close on ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ set
Pascal and Downey Jr. reportedly got close while filming ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ and the latter even hosted “homework days” at his house as a form of workshop for the cast members. The duo showered praise on each other while speaking to Vanity Fair for Pascal’s cover story last year.
“Pascal’s slow trajectory to becoming a household name who is on a wildly hot streak kind of reaffirms my faith in our industry,” Downey said, while speaking about his co-star and friend. Meanwhile, ‘The Materialists’ star added, “He’s just so immediately generous and inviting that you feel like you can be afraid, you can be hungry, you can be ambivalent.”
At the time Pascal also addressed the “disgruntlement around my casting” as Reed Richards. The actor shared that he was aware of viewers’ complaints such as, “‘He’s too old. He’s not right. He needs to shave.’” However, Pascal turned to Downey Jr. while dealing with the criticism and remained focused on playing his part well.
