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It has been almost a month since Robert Downey, Jr. stunned movie fans by revealing that he would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom.
Since then people have been scratching their heads trying to figure out three things. One, how is the guy who played Tony Stark slash Iron Man for over a decade going to suddenly become Victor von Doom? Two, why? And three, how did this happen?
Based on the insane amount of money and perks that Robert Downey Jr. will be getting to return to the MCU for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars question number one has clearly been answered.
The second question is still a bit of a mystery and probably will be until the two Avengers movies are released, but question number three got an answer this week.
During an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Robert Downey Jr. revealed how the deal for him to trade in Iron Man’s mask and don Doctor Doom’s mask was reached.
“Probably a year ago, because [Kevin Feige] and I have kept in touch,” Downey explained. “We’re pals. [Jon Favreau] and Feige and I have kept in touch. I’m close with the Russo brothers. We have other business we’re doing.
“So there’s this little group of fellow travelers… And I had an idea, outside of the cinematic universe, for how I could be of service to what’s going on in the parks and all their location-based energy… And Susan [his wife] 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, wait, come back as what?’
“And then we both realized, over time, that it was another thing that just disproves any doubt anyone could ever have about that guy, a very sophisticated, creative thinker, about, ‘How can we not go backwards? How can we not disappoint expectations? How can we continue to to beat expectations?’ And he brought up Victor von Doom, and I looked into it as a character, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ And later on, he goes, ‘Let’s get Victor von Doom right. Let’s get that right.’
“So then I said to Kevin, ‘Can I go talk to Bob Iger?’ He goes, ‘About?’ I go, ‘About everything.’
Bob Iger is the CEO of The Walt Disney Company which owns Marvel Entertainment.
“We go to Iger’s pad, and we sit down and start saying, ‘I just really want to be…’ He goes, ‘I like it.’ I was like, ‘He likes it.’ He goes ‘Come by the Imagineering campus.’
“Feige and I go to the Imagineering campus and, you want to talk about two guys that are not easy to have their minds blown, let alone at the same time. This is, 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.
“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. And where the hell else would you go but there? So it’s this crazy, weird thing that’s going on.”