Instead of a variant, how about this...
Victor Von Doom has become aware of the multiverse. He is attempting to find a way to navigate it in order to learn more about how it works, fearing that the very existence of the multiverse may in fact be a threat to existence itself. He has taken it upon himself to save reality by any means necessary. Unfortunately, Doom is horrifically injured during his experiments to create a gateway between universes and finds himself on the verge of death.
In a last ditch attempt to save his own life, he uses his genius to reappropriate the technology he was working on for the gateway so that instead of transferring him physically to another universe, it will instead transfer his consciousness alone. All that is required is a suitable host.
With only moments left to spare, the machine successfully uploads the dying Doom's consciousness and then reaches out across the multiverse looking for a place to transfer it, eventually locking in on the most powerful living energy source it can find in that particular moment:
Tony Stark using the Infinity Gauntlet on Earth-616.
That way, by the end of *Avengers: Doomsday* we could learn that as Tony's consciousness died, Doom's took over, making this the real Victor Von Doom possessing the body of the late Tony Stark.
In a last ditch attempt to save his own life, he uses his genius to reappropriate the technology he was working on for the gateway so that instead of transferring him physically to another universe, it will instead transfer his consciousness alone. All that is required is a suitable host.
With only moments left to spare, the machine successfully uploads the dying Doom's consciousness and then reaches out across the multiverse looking for a place to transfer it, eventually locking in on the most powerful living energy source it can find in that particular moment:
Tony Stark using the Infinity Gauntlet on Earth-616.
That way, by the end of *Avengers: Doomsday* we could learn that as Tony's consciousness died, Doom's took over, making this the real Victor Von Doom possessing the body of the late Tony Stark.
Commentaires
"But why would they hire RDJ if they aren't going to show him or let him be Stark"
Because of social media posts like this. 90% of the discourse around these films is about him. It's free marketing*
*and also there's nothing stopping him playing as many Stark variants as they want at the same time.
“We can’t explain that **as it’s part of the story**.”
He added, “But there’s nobody else in the world who could play this character the way he’s about to.”
[Source](https://maxblizz.com/anthony-russo-on-robert-downey-jr-as-doctor-doom-no-one-else-could-play-this-role-like-him/)
“We’re not answering questions about the story.”
It’s a standard response, not a clue.
So what, he pretend to be dead during the whole funeral then dug himself out of the grave while everyone was sleeping?
Plus he's now in Tony's body so fingerprints, retina scan, all that stuff means he would have access to any part of the HQ and to any tech that he might need to assist in his escape.
Every time someone tries to force this square peg into this round hole I am reminded how fucking terrible and desperate the Tony/Doom decision was.