After a hiatus of five years, the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU was finally announced at the 2024 San Diego Comic Convention. The Academy Award winner made his final appearance in the franchise as Iron Man in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Following this outing, many believed Downey Jr. to have permanently exited the Marvel cinematic setup.
Nevertheless, the fan-favorite actor is now back in the superhero mix as the villainous Doctor Doom this time. He is set to appear as the fabled antagonist in the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The return of Robert Downey Jr. was reportedly made possible after one of his non-negotiable conditions was fulfilled.
Robert Downey Jr.’s one condition to return to Marvel allegedly revealed
A recent report has claimed that the Iron Man actor made a comeback to the MCU only after Joe and Anthony Russo were confirmed as the directors of the upcoming Avengers movies.
According to Variety, Robert Downey Jr. conditioned his return on the Russo brothers directing Avengers 5 and 6. “They were the only ones he would work with,” revealed an insider source. Aside from the demand regarding Joe and Anthony Russo, the Marvel superstar also reportedly requested travel by private jet. Other reported perks include dedicated security personnel and a trailer encampment for both Avengers movies.
Robert Downey Jr. seemingly began entertaining the idea of returning to the MCU as recently as June 2024. While talking to Variety last month, the Oppenheimer actor stated, “I’ve become surprisingly open-minded to the idea… I was actually looking at the stills we were taking, making sure: ‘Do we still look kind of OK?’ I’m like, ‘We look pretty good.'”
His unexpected comeback also comes with a huge financial advantage for the actor, per Variety. Alongside the aforementioned benefits, Robert Downey Jr.’s return contract is expected to fetch him more than $80 million.
He will be making his second MCU debut with Avengers 5, titled Avengers: Doomsday, in May 2026. Downey Jr. will then reprise the role of Doctor Doom in Avengers: Secret Wars. His involvement with Marvel past the two Avengers movies remains unknown at the time of writing.
