Robert Downey Jr. ushered in the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2008 with his starring role in Iron Man. He reprised the part in movies like Captain America: Civil War and three Avengers movies, though his participation in the MCU was believed for years to be over. He shocked the world earlier this month when he revealed he'd be taking on a new character in two new Marvel movies, but the road to getting there wasn't straightforward.
Downey Jr. recounted a conversation he and his wife had with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that changed his mind about returning to the MCU in a recent appearance on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast.
“Susan [Downey] and I were sitting down with Feige at one point, and he said, ‘It just keeps occurring to me that if you were to come back,' and Susan was like, 'Wait, come back as what?'" he recounted.
"And he brought up Victor Von Doom," he continued. "And I looked into it as character, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ But later on he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right.'"
They were able to seal the deal after Downey Jr. met with Feige and Disney CEO Bob Iger at Iger's home. "We go to Iger’s pad, and we sit down, I start saying, ‘I just really want to be…,' he goes, ‘I like it.’ He likes it," he remembered.
As for what the projects will actually involve, Downey Jr. stayed tight-lipped.
“I can’t say too much about [it], but what is going on there right now is so beyond my expectation of what was possible, that no wonder it was numinous to me. And it’s also the only way that I felt like I can give a certain entertainment seeking audience something that they may have a hankering to have an experience of in a way where I can continue to develop my interest in the future of entertainment," he said.
Downey will star as Dr. Victor von Doom in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.
