Robert Downey Jr. is an enigmatic personality. To say he has established himself as one of Hollywood’s finest talents would be an understatement. While most celebrated for his depiction of Tony Stark/Iron Man within the Marvel Cinematic Universe spectrum, he’s also famed for other endeavors such as Sherlock, Due Date, Dolittle, The Judge, etc. Therefore, he’s nothing short of a Hollywood sensation.
When Robert Downey Jr. first got the call about possibly starring in “Tropic Thunder,” the 2008 Hollywood parody helmed by actor-director Ben Stiller, the “Iron Man” lead was conflicted. Downey was slated to play the character of Kirk Lazarus, a five-time Oscar-winning Australian actor who undergoes “pigmentation alteration” surgery to portray a black soldier in the satirical film-within-a-film, and the job carried a major risk: wearing blackface makeup.
2010’s Iron Man 2 made it clear that Marvel Studios is planning something big for the franchise as it introduced the fans to the Avengers Initiative. There is a scene in the movie where Tony Stark and Nick Fury discuss Black Widow’s assessment of Stark. During that scene, a major character’s existence, which eventually joined the MCU in 2016, was teased.
In the scene, the S.H.I.E.L.D. holographic screens have certain locations marked, and two of those locations were Atlantis and Wakanda. In 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, we finally got to see Black Panther making an appearance and introduction to Wakanda.
Another location that is marked is believed to be Namor’s Atlantis. However, some fans also believe that this could be the location of an underwater prison for superhumans known as the Raft.
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In a 2008 interview with the Scottish paper Daily Record, Robert Downey Jr. detailed the lowest point in his life and how he subsequently freed himself from the struggles he had been facing for a while. He rose above the arduous challenges and established within himself a stable, secure, and healthy mindset. Years after the 1997 controversy that had befallen him, the actor starred in several projects like Bowfinger, US Marshalls, and The Gingerbread Man. In the interview, he reflected upon those attempts and questioned what must have gone on at that time. Following is what he had to say:I think stuff like ‘That was a fun day but, God, I ate way too much rice before lunch’. Or ‘Did I b**g her?’. That type of stuff. I know exactly what movies I was almost continuously drunk on when we filmed. And I remember certain colleagues having a lot of fun on the set with me.”
Elaborating further on his rather scandalous statement, the Iron Man star affirmed that in Hollywood, “every second star” is involved with their co-star; a direct result of having spent lots of time on set together. However, Robert Downey Jr. also emphasized that he would not spend his time listing the names of those co-stars.
Hence, the Sherlock alum and his claim substantiated how he would hook up with most of his co-stars in that specific period of his life.
It must be mentioned that despite the troubles of the past, Downey Jr. kept stating how he had bounced back to a much better state where he felt grateful for his life and his partner, Susan Downey. In the same interview, RDJ said the following:
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There is also an easter egg in 2008’s Iron Man, which is very easy to miss. The movie featured Captain America’s shield three years before the release of Captain America: The First Avenger.
2008’s The Incredible Hulk, also teased Captain America before the character’s existence in the MCU. In the movie, Emil Blonsky receives a special serum that transforms him into a monster that was made to give him powers to match the Hulk.
The container has the name Dr. Reinstein, who is credited for the development of the serum. Dr. Reinstein was actually a fake name used by Dr. Abraham Erskine, the man who developed the Super Soldier formula that transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America.
Marvel has had its fair share of terrifyingly powerful characters, with the Scarlet Witch being able to erase the existence of all mutants by simply saying ‘No More Mutants’, making her perhaps one of the most frightening and overpowered characters in the comics, and characters like the personification of Death itself in the form of a cosmic being. While compared to these, characters like Deadpool and Spider-Man sound menial, there is no doubt that they are perhaps, two of the most adored characters to ever come out of any Marvel comic.