With Robert Downey Jr. confirmed to return to the MCU as a villainous version of Tony Stark who becomes Dr. Doom, it comes as no surprise that we've heard Chris Evans will also return in Avengers: Secret Wars as Captain Hydra.
One of the biggest themes of the Multiverse Saga is that making different decisions can result in dramatic changes in our characters just as we saw in evil variants of Dr. Strange in Multiverse of Madness. Although it hasn’t been confirmed that Downey will play a variant of Tony Stark, Tony has displayed an authoritarian streak in films like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. Perhaps we will see a variant of Tony who dons Dr. Doom's familiar suit of armor and seeks to put a “suit of armor around the world.” We can see how well-meaning people, even our heroes, can be seduced by the dark side when they make split-second decisions under certain circumstances.
Infamous Iron Man #1 has retained most of its value since the announcement about Downey's return.
Nearly three months after the announcement about Downey's return to the MCU at San Diego Comic Con, there's still demand for Infamous Iron Man #1, an issue where Doctor Doom becomes Iron Man. Shortly after the announcement, a CGC 9.8 (the most common grade on the CGC Census) sold for around $225. During the past 30 days, values have started to cool off some dropping down to average sale of $184.
While still a lot higher than what a 9.8 sold for prior to the announcement (around $65), I'd personally stay away from this book for now (just my opinion). Not only is Avengers: Doomsday still 18 months away, but I also expect to see a surge in CGC submissions for this book which will increase supply and most likely lower its value. During the past 90 days, 86 copies were submitted to CGC for grading; expect to see a lot more 9.8s on the market soon.
If you're interested in other issues where Tony Stark becomes Doctor Doom, I'd probably take a look at Marvel Team-Up #2 which includes the 1st cameo appearance of Tony Stark as Doctor Doom from an alternative dimension and isn't getting as much attention as Infamous Iron Man #1. My suggestion is to buy them raw as opposed to graded. You should be able to buy a high-grade copy on eBay for around $15 if you're patient.
Chris Evans is also rumored to return -- as Captain Hydra.
It looks like we’ll be seeing other evil variants (and perhaps even a Dark Avengers team). It appears Chris Evans will reprise his role as Steve Rogers, but as a variant who becomes Captain Hydra. While it may be difficult to imagine Steve becoming a Hydra agent, he has disavowed the mantle of Captain America before in the MCU when he left his shield behind in Civil War and became Nomad, a man without a country.
Captain Hydra first appears in 2016’s Captain America: Steve Rogers #1. The value of a CGC 9.8 copy (by far the most common grade on the CGC Census) has held remarkably steady over the past year. The 30-day average sale of $75 is the same as the 90-day average. And the one-year average is roughly the same at $72. Considering comic books have been in a bear market for the past two years, Steve Rogers #1 appears to be beating the overall market by retaining most of its value.
If you're interested in this book, I'd be wary of buying a graded copy of this issue; if the rumor about Captian Hydra is true, I'd expect the supply of 9.8s to increase dramatically in the near future.
