Inside Robert Downey Jr.’s Return to the MCU, His Casting as Doctor Doom, and His Massive Salary

In partnership with

,

Happy Monday, folks!

We’ve got a long newsletter tonight, so I’ll spare you all the big wind-up.

In tonight’s newsletter, I’ll take you inside Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU while offering my thoughts on Marvel’s big Comic-Con presentation. I also weigh in on the rumor that Steven Caple Jr. may direct the I Am Legend sequel, and explain why he’s available to take that job at Warner Bros.

There are also stories about the male lead of Steven Spielberg’s next movie, a new Tom Cruise movie from Christopher McQuarrie, and a new Star Trek series in the works at Paramount+, plus, my thoughts on the trailer for James Gunn’s animated DC series Creature Commandos.

Also, I’m taking down the paywall on tonight’s Comic-Con-themed issue, but in order to afford to be able to do that, PLEASE CLICK on the ad below before diving in. Thanks in advance… and if you’re new here and you dig the newsletter, consider buying a subscription. Discounts are available via DM on Twitter!

The Viral Cleaning Tablets Everyone’s Talking About!

Everyone cleans their clothes and dishes regularly but when was the last time you actually made sure that the appliance responsible for doing the cleaning was clean itself?

Sad Fact: Dirty appliances don't clean well. You wouldn't bathe in a dirty bathtub so why are you washing your things in dirty machines?

Join the over 1 million happy customers who use ACTIVE's viral cleaning tablets and stop worrying whether or not your appliances are actually cleaning like they're supposed to again!

Get Your ACTIVE Tablets Today!

Inside Robert Downey Jr.’s Return to the MCU, His Casting as Doctor Doom, and His Massive Salary

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain...” - Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight

On Friday, May 10, at 2:49 p.m. I received an encrypted email from a tipster that read:

“Robert Downey [Jr.] is coming back to [the] MCU as an alternate multiverse Tony Stark who is actually Doctor Doom.  Lucrative payday, etc. Will be first appearing in an end credit kicker. Enjoy.”

To say this was a monster tip would be the understatement of the century. This was, honestly, world news. The kind of news that would delight the world — or so I thought — which is my favorite kind of news to break.

I had lunch on the books with representatives for Marvel and Disney on May 21 so I decided to wait to inquire until we were face-to-face, as this was the kind of thing that both merited an in-person conversation and would, in theory, hold during that time.

But then our lunch got Thanos-snapped for some reason — not even rescheduled — and I was left with no choice but to call Marvel, with whom I have always had a solid relationship, going back years.

When I told Marvel what I’d been hearing, the studio denied it, and I accepted their denial at face value, as I always have, for that same rep has kept me from getting egg on my face plenty of times.

But the thought never went away — this is precisely the kind of big, bold move that the MCU needs and more importantly, that Downey would go for.

Sure enough, on Saturday night, Marvel announced that Robert Downey Jr. would be coming back to the MCU as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Of course, they left out the part about the character being first introduced in a mid/post-credits sequence at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but that’s beside the point.

The point is that Robert Downey Jr. is back, baby! The real Marvel Jesus!

Is it stunt casting done out of desperation, or is it a work of creative genius?

You be the judge…

Let’s start with the fact that, despite their protestations, it was only a matter of time before Downey would return to the MCU. He loved those guys and that universe, which elevated both his fame and fortune to ridiculous heights.

As for why Downey would want to come back to the MCU right now, well, for starters, it needs him more than ever. That much is clear.

Sure, Deadpool & Wolverine just posted Marvel’s biggest weekend ($205 million domestic) since Avengers: Endgame as well as the biggest opening ever for an R-rated movie, plus, it’s going over like gangbusters with audiences, but as Deadpool himself jokes in the film, the MCU seems to be stuck at a creative low point, and it needs a lightning bolt of entertainment to revive fan interest.

Downey’s casting accomplishes that in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, after years of hearing people wonder, ‘When will Robert get back to acting in “real” films that aren’t comic book movies,’ Downey reminded the world that he’s still one of its great dramatic actors, winning an Oscar for Oppenheimer. He didn’t have anything to prove before, but if he did, he has now proven it.

Let’s not forget that Downey is also a frontrunner to win an Emmy for his dynamic, multi-character performance in HBO’s limited series The Sympathizer, and he’s also preparing to make his Broadway debut in McNeal, which is hardly a safe choice.

In other words, he has more than earned the right to return to the MCU.

As for the question of, ‘Why Doctor Doom?’ it was never a secret that Marvel wanted Downey back, but he was never coming back to just play Iron Man again, as he already said goodbye to that character, whose death was perhaps the most affecting moment in MCU history.

You could argue Downey’s return at Comic-Con is now on that list, as it ranks among Instagram’s top 12 most-viewed videos of all time. But he’s not back as Iron Man, having closed that chapter of his career.

If Downey was ever going to come back, it was going to be with the idea of playing new notes — villainous notes. Don’t forget, he was eyed to play Doctor Doom in 2005’s Fantastic Four movie, ultimately losing the role to Julian McMahon of Nip/Tuck fame. That was pre-MCU days, but Kevin Feige was an EP on those early FF movies.

To be honest, the character of Doom isn’t a far cry from Downey’s Oscar-winning role as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, as Doom is also a guy who’s incredibly jealous of his younger, smarter colleague (Reed Richards) and goes scorched earth on him, but I digress…

Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles gave Marvel the perfect cover — er, opportunity — to ditch the Kang storyline and reframe the future of the MCU around a new big baddie — Doom —whom I knew would be an A-list name.

That feeling was only reiterated when Ralph Ineson - a great voice actor, no doubt — was cast as Galactus, which felt like a money-saving move to me. I know Marvel wanted Javier Bardem for that role, but when his F1 schedule proved difficult, they didn’t bother chasing other A-list names since the character is CGI anyway.

Those savings are now going directly into Downey’s bank account, as I’m told that he’ll make $50 million per movie, with the chance to double that based on certain box office incentives. The Russos will earn a little less — about $40 million per movie between them before box office bonuses kick in.

If you’ll recall, Downey’s Avengers: Endgame salary was only $20 million, though he wound up making a reported $75 million — the same as he did on Avengers: Infinity War and Iron Man 3. Like Infinity War and Endgame, Avengers: Doomsday will be ensemble-driven, but Downey is clearly the main attraction, even though the film will also feature the Fantastic Four themselves.

Now, there seems to be a point of contention about whether Downey will be playing a Tony Stark variant, or Victor Von Doom. The original tip that I received indicated that he’d be a Stark variant, though World of Reel’s Jordan Ruimy says he’s heard it won’t be a Tony Stark variant — he’s just Victor Von Doom.

THR noted how the Russo brothers introduced Downey as playing Victor Von Doom and suggested that in doing so, it squashed any notion that Doom was a Stark variant. But the trade then asked, ‘If he’s not, then what’s the point of casting the same actor who played Iron Man?’ 

Indeed, what is the point? It doesn’t make any sense, and it only seems to work if Downey is playing a Stark variant, but either way, I highly doubt that he’s just playing a new role in the MCU sans explanation, as the audience deserves one beyond, ‘It’s the multiverse, man. Just go with it...’

Yes, Gemma Chan (who starred in Eternals after playing a supporting role in Captain Marvel) and Michelle Yeoh (who had a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 before playing a different, more substantial character in Shang-Chi) did the same thing, but neither one of them was the face of the highest-grossing franchise of all time.

To me, it makes more sense if Downey is playing an evil Tony Stark variant who was, perhaps, the anchor of the sacred Marvel timeline and now wants to destroy it, but here’s the truth, folks — I don’t really give a shit either way.

Honestly, who cares if the name on his ID says Tony Stark or Victor Von Doom? Does it really matter? He’ll be talking, and behaving, like Doom, not Iron Man, so I don’t really see what the big deal is even if he is a Stark variant, but then again, I don’t know enough about the convoluted world of comic books to even know if it matters.

All I know is that there will be more people in the theater because Robert Downey Jr. is in the movie — the role is inconsequential. But… if he is simply playing Doom, could someone else show up as Iron Man? The mind reels!

See, the Stark-or-Doom argument is where this stuff just becomes exhausting and starts to turn off the average viewer, who can’t keep up with this stuff, much like how I had no idea what Alioth was when it appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine, or that it was a character from Loki… because I don’t watch that show. That’s why I called him a purple dragon cloud in my review.

Marvel’s brain trust could really use someone who doesn’t actually care about the larger MCU and just wants to help Marvel tell one good story at a time. I’m not saying they should always listen to that voice in the room, as what they’re doing has obviously been working, but that voice should still be in the room regardless so that someone pushes back on some of the incredibly dumb stuff that exists for no reason in the MCU.

Again, the Comic-Con crowd is already buying tickets to these movies. You have to appeal to guys like me, my brothers, my high school buddies, who are largely indifferent but who will go to a Marvel movie if it’s actually good —not just getting good reviews from fanboy lapdogs.

While Marvel denied my initial inquiry back in May, I may have jumped the gun when I accused the studio of “lying” to me, as following the reveal, I was told that they approached Downey multiple times and he kept turning them down until the Russos came back — a recent development that came together quickly in the past few weeks once it became clear that Shawn Levy wasn’t interested in jumping back into the MCU so quickly after Deadpool & Wolverine.

Indeed, Devin Faraci noted in late June that he’d heard Marvel was trying to strike a deal with Downey and couldn’t make it work, and one of my top sources said that Downey’s deal only closed at the beginning of last week.

Then again, Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman said he found out “a while ago” about Downey’s casting, which makes me think this is something that was known by late April/early May, since I found out about it on May 10.

After that point, I stopped hearing any other names for Doom, regardless of how many times Marvel had to approach Downey. And Shakman had to be kept in the loop given Doom’s cameo at the end of his film, which sets up Doomsday.

So, I was right about the Russos directing the next Avengers movie, I was right about Downey coming back as Doom, and I was also right about how only one member of the Stephen McFeely-Christopher Markus writing team is working the next two Avengers movies.

McFeely is the man in charge of assembling these Avengers sequels, and again, I have no idea why Markus isn’t involved. He or someone in his family could be dealing with a personal issue, or perhaps he and McFeely or split up, or he’s holding down the fort on other AGBO projects, but regardless, McFeely is flying solo for now. Of course, I hope everything is okay with Markus and his family…

While it’s kind of funny how the tables have turned — DC is now the studio with a grand plan courtesy of James Gunn, who is slowly but surely putting his own superhero universe together in the hopes of building something special, whereas Marvel seems very reactive of late, bringing back its old stars, writers, and directors in an effort to “revive” the brand, not that it needs “reviving” based on this weekend’s record-setting box office, but you catch my drift — what didn’t change this weekend is Marvel coming out on top at Comic-Con, where DC barely bothered to put up a fight.

No matter how creatively “desperate” Downey’s return may seem — and Film Twitter had a field day, surprisingly — this is the kind of move that puts butts in seats and makes these new Avengers movies must-sees.

Is this a regression for Downey, or an exciting new challenge? Can he go from the man everyone loved rooting for to the man everyone roots against? Is there a larger purpose to his casting, a greater meaning for which Feige has big plans? Potentially. You never know with Marvel…

But if Downey had to come back then I like this angle, which makes sense for the MCU and for the actor now that he has an Oscar on his mantle. So props to Marvel on its epic Comic-Con panel. The Fantasticar that flew over the crowd, powered by drones, was an especially nice touch, though I don’t love the Fantastic Four title, as First Steps sounds like the kind of teen movie where a kid has to learn how to dance before the prom.

Just don’t forget that I took Kevin Feige at his word on Doom, thereby allowing him and Downey to have their big moment, when it comes time to start confirming the other 65+ cast members for the conclusion of the Avengers saga. My readers, who pay good money for hot info that I work hard to provide, deserve compensation and we’ll accept payment in the form of MCU scoops.

I can be the Iron Man or the Doctor Doom of Marvel reporting, but it’ll be up to Marvel to decide which role I play going forward. Stay tuned…

Steven Caple Jr. in Talks to Direct I Am Legend 2 After Argument With Transformers Producer

Last week, in a piece about the dozen blockbusters that would be lucky to have Lee Isaac Chung, I wrote about I Am Legend 2 and how there was no way Francis Lawrence would be able to come back due to his busy schedule over at Lionsgate between The Long Walk and the next Hunger Games movie. 

Sure enough, by the end of the week, Deadline reported that Steven Caple Jr. was in talks for the high-profile studio gig, which makes so much sense that I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of it myself.

After all, I Am Legend 2 will pair original star Will Smith with Michael B. Jordan, and make no mistake, the reason the sequel is being made all these years later — 17, to be exact — is because of Jordan’s involvement. 

When Ryan Coogler announced he wasn’t coming back to direct the Creed sequel, Jordan tapped Caple to direct Creed II, and the only reason that Caple didn’t come back for Creed III is because Jordan wanted to try his hand at directing the movie himself.

Caple went on to direct Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which not only grossed $439 million worldwide, but also gave him a taste for VFX-driven blockbuster filmmaking, so I Am Legend 2 makes a ton of sense as the next chapter in his career — especially since Caple made Creed II for MGM, and former MGM heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy are now running WB. 

That said, there’s another reason that Caple landed the I Am Legend 2 gig, and that’s because he was available after turning down the chance to direct the Transformers-G.I. Joe movie for Paramount. And why was he available?

I’m told by multiple sources it’s because he got into a heated argument with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and walked away from the project.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of what I heard, but suffice it to say, I’m told that some of DiBonaventura’s comments were interpreted as racially-tinged and that the old-school producer — di Bonaventura is 67 years old — suggested Caple should be more grateful for the opportunity to direct the big-budget crossover movie, which is slated to star Chris Hemsworth.

Both Caple and di Bonaventura are represented by CAA, which denied that any incident occurred, with one agency insider suggesting it was merely a heated negotiation that went south — nothing out of the ordinary in the cutthroat world of Hollywood.

I’m certainly not suggesting that di Bonaventura is racist or anything like that, but I think we’re all guilty of micro-aggressions and things like that from time to time. From what I’ve been told by several different parties, it certainly sounds like that’s what happened here… at the very least.

Caple’s new producers include Smith, Jordan, and writer Akiva Goldsman (who recently turned in a second draft), as well as their respective producing partners Jon Mone of Westbrook, Elizabeth Raposo of Outlier Society, and Greg Lessans of Weed Road. James Lassiter will executive produce for Westbrook, whose Ryan Shimazaki will oversee the project on behalf of the company.

I Am Legend 2 will pick up after the alternate ending to Lawrence’s 2007 movie, which grossed $585 million worldwide. I don’t understand why they’re retconning the original ending — test audiences hated the alternate ending and thought it’d be better if Smith’s character died — but if the producers can bring him back, perhaps they’ll find a way to bring back his German Shepherd, which could steal scenes just like Lupita Nyong’o’s cat in A Quiet Place: Day One.

Before taking the helm of this sequel, Caple is expected to direct the first two episodes of Prime Video’s Man on Fire series starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. I never understood why Caple took the helm of that Transformers spinoff, but if it helped to land him the I Am Legend 2 gig, then I suppose it was worth it.

As of press time, the Transformers-G.I. Joe crossover movie from writer Derek Connolly (Jurassic World) does not have a director.

Bits and Bobs (A Daily News Roundup)

Trailer Time: James Gunn Unveils DC Studios’ First Project, the Animated Series Creature Commandos

We’ve spent most of tonight’s newsletter talking about Marvel’s Comic-Con presentation but James Gunn also went down to San Diego to unveil a trailer for the DCU’s first project, Creature Commandos.

The animated series follows a bunch of incarcerated monsters, new and old — hello again, Weasel! — as they take on missions deemed too dangerous for humans.

The voice cast includes Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Sean Gunn as GI Robot and Weasel, David Harbour as Frankenstein, Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus, Steve Agee as Economos, Maria Bakalova as Princess Ilana, Anya Chalotra as Circe, Zoe Chao as Nina Mazursky, Indira Varma as The Bride, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.

I think this show looks like a lot of fun, and dig the old-school animation style, which reminds me a bit of Invincible. Plus, I dig the voice cast, and expect this series to boast some cool surprises. I’m not sure it should’ve been the first project out of the gate for Gunn’s DC, but so be it. If it’s ready, why wait?

Creature Commandos will debut in December, and speaking of the Flag family, Joel Kinnaman is expected to reprise his Suicide Squad role as Rick Flag Jr. in Season 2 of Peacemaker. Perhaps down the line, we’ll get a father-son series starring the Flags. A boy can dream, anyway.

Speaking of dreaming, I know Colin Farrell’s Penguin will be back in The Batman Part II, but don’t be surprised if Paul Dano’s Riddler returns as well, as I feel like he has unfinished business in Matt Reeves’ Gotham.

That’ll do it for me, folks! Have a good night…

FollowTheInSneider on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Got a hot tip, or an interesting pitch? Want to buy an ad or ask a provocative question for future mailbag installments? Email me at [email protected].