The man of many faces

I am really hoping RDJ is playing Doom as Victor Von Doom, and not some continuation of Stark or some alternate universe Stark. Like if they skip Doom's origin and he is always behind the mask with a modulated voice.

Or even better, the announcement be a misdirect along the same lines as how Trevor wasn't really the Mandarin.

I like it that it's just the alt timeline with the fantastic 4 in the universe. In this timeline, this is just what doom looks like. I like it more because doom looking just like the MCU's stark can lead to confusion and false trust and some fun moments in secret wars. And it makes sense out of universe because RDJ auditioned for the doom role in the original fantastic 4.
- In an interview with Feige, someone asked about whether Stark was an Anchor Being. And while Feige didn't directly answer he said he was happy that people were thinking about it.
  
  Tony Stark being an anchor being makes sense with how important he is in so many universe variations.

To be fair, Combs is almost always in make-up so you never see his fa- Hold up... Doesn't Dr. Doom have a big metal mask covering his face? 🤔 Aw, shit, are they gonna do Iron Man style face close-ups inside the mask?

If they keep the mask on and he actually plays the character rather than his usual shtick it might be okay. Disney doesn't have a good track record of that with their big name actors keeping their masks on though.
- There is mando.
If they do "inside the mask" shots of him, I'm done with Marvel movies.
- That's the line? Not anything else that's happened?
Probably takes it off after the intro, just like Kylo Ren.

The reason so many people want RDJ's Doom to be a Stark variant is because the alternative is that Marvel, and by extension Disney, is in desperation mode. "Iron Man did well, Iron Man was played by RDJ, we want this movie to do well, we need to throw a dump truck full of money at RDJ again."

Furthermore, RDJ, as much as I enjoy his performances, always plays the same character in any movie that isn't Oppenheimer. If this Dr Doom isn't a Stark variant, it's going to be weird at best and terrible at worst when he acts like Tony Stark.

Tropic thunder?
- But that was a dude, playing a dude, disguised as another dude, totally different situation.
- Or Chaplin?
  
  Or, to a lesser.extent - A Scanner Darkly? And I guess Doolittle. And probably others.
I thought he did great in the Sherlock movies, was hoping they'd do a 3rd one, but maybe that's just me.
- Sherlock wasn't much different from Stark though. Smart sarcastic guy. That really isn't Doom.
- Still on the board as of June.
  
  Edit: still wouldn't hold my breath, much like The Orville season 4.

While I really like him performing Brunt and others, Shran was by far my favourite role of him.

He brought the same level of depth to the Andorians that Nimoy brought to the Vulcans. Iconic.
- Well said! :)
So sad Shran never got to be a regular character. He was the best
- The rumors that the cancelled next season of Enterprise would've had Shran as a main cast member had me damn near grieving. That would've been amazing.
  
  As my wife put it, the Andorians make Enterprise worth watching.

I like to think they had Jeffrey Combes on set every day just in case any actors didn't show up.

I mean, it doesn't necessarily rule out a convoluted explanation either. Let me tell you the story of a woman named Denise Crosby.

Forgot the original, Mark Lenard.

Also Diana Muldaur.
- Majel Barrett?

There's a few actors in the Star Trek acting community that get recycled and now and then. Cisco's dad and the guy that played Zephrim Cochran come to mind. I can't remember their names because I'm bad at names. Oh yeah and the guy that played Odo was in one or two other things too. They do the kind of thing a lot actually.

Tim Russ played three characters.
- Technically 4, if you throw in Mirror Tuvok.
  
  And you could argue a 5th with Picard, but I won't go into details for spoilery reasons.
If you ever see a Star Trek actor in any other TV show It usually means it's going to be a bunch of others soon enough.
- Or game! Ever played XCOM 2?
  
  Basically all the main characters were voiced by TNG actors.