Before his return in Avengers: Doomsday, Robert Downey Jr. is pulling out all the stops, according to the Russo Brothers.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight about The Electric State, the Russo Brothers talked about Downey’s Marvel return. According to the directors, Downey is taking it very seriously.
“It’s a very intense project, developing the character,” Joe Russo said of Downey preparing to play Doctor Doom. “He is so immersed in it; he is so dialed in. [He’s] writing backstory, costume ideas; I mean, we were just on the phone with him this morning talking about it.
“He just loves really rich, three-dimensional characters, and I think he sees a real opportunity here with that character,” he continued.
Before Avengers: Doomsday comes, the Russo Brothers’ latest movie, The Electric State (on Netflix March 14), will come out — the sci-fi movie stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Ke Huy Quan.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Avengers: Doomsday return
In Avengers: Doomsday, Downey will play Doctor Doom in a surprising twist. Initially, the plan was to have Jonathan Majors’ Kang be the antagonist of the fifth Avengers movie.
However, his off-screen controversies resulted in him being fired by Marvel. The whole focus of the movie sifted, and the Russo Brothers were brought back.
At the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), they were revealed as the directors of the next two Avengers movies Doomsday and Secret Wars.
That was not the biggest surprise, though. Downey was then revealed as the actor playing Doctor Doom in Doomsday. It marked his return to Marvel after a half-decade away.
Previously, he played Tony Stark/Iron Man from 2008-19. He was the anchor of the MCU since Iron Man kicked off the franchise. Stark died at the end of Avengers: Endgame, giving his character closure. He has not been seen in the MCU since, but now he will return as a new character. We will have to wait and see if he plays any variant of Iron Man, though.
What did he do before his Marvel return?
After leaving Marvel behind with Endgame, Downey won his first Oscar. He won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Oppenheimer.
He played Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy, who played J. Robert Oppenheimer, also won an Oscar, taking home Best Actor for his performance.
His first role after Endgame was not as successful. He executive produced and starred in Dolittle in the title role. It was a box office flop, grossing $250 million during its theatrical run.
He then produced “Sr.” It is a documentary about his father, Robert Downey Sr. Netflix distributed the documentary, giving it a limited theatrical release before it landed on streaming.
Additionally, he starred in The Sympathizer in 2024. Downey played five different roles in the series, which was co-created by Park Chan-wook.
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