Robert Downey Jr. Returning as Iron Man in What If…?

November 15, 2019

Robert Downey Jr. returning as Iron Man in Disney+’s What If…? series

In a recent interview with Buzzfeed, Thor: Ragnarok star Jeff Goldblum has confirmed that Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the MCU in Disney+’s upcoming animated TV series What If…?, reprising his iconic role by lending his voice to the the animated version of Tony Stark/Iron Man. Goldblum revealed that his character Grandmaster will be featured in the same episode as Iron Man and Taika Waitti’s Korg. You can check out his full interview in the player below!

“I played the part again a couple of days ago. I went to the Disney studios and I recorded the Grandmaster’s voice for an episode of a show that’s gonna be on Disney+ that’s called What If…?,” Goldblum said. “It’s an animated version of all the characters we know and love from Marvel and this episode included the Grandmaster and Iron Man, so Robert Downey will do a voice for that, and Korg. Taika Waititi had already recorded his voice for that, so yeah, for a couple hours I enjoyed doing that.

At Marvel Studios’ Comic-Con panel, it was announced that Westworld actor Jeffrey Wright has been cast to voice The Watcher, who serves as the narrator throughout the series. The MCU actors who are set to reprise their roles in the animated series have also been revealed including: Michael B. Jordan, Sebastian Stan, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Hayley Atwell, Chadwick Boseman, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Neal McDonough, Dominic Cooper, Sean Gunn, Natalie Portman, David Dastmalchian, Stanley Tucci, Taika Waititi, Toby Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Rooker and Chris Sullivan.

The original What if comic book series debuted in 1977 and over time 200 issues have been published. The stories ranged from the impossible to the ridiculous as Marvel looks to use the streaming service to tell more out of the box stories unachievable through live-action. The animated series could take examples directly from the comic book series, or they could imagine a few new stories to explore. Other examples from the comic books that may or may not make their way into the animated series include:

What if Captain America hadn’t vanished during World War II?

What if Spider-Man didn’t become a crimefighter?

What if Thanos joined the Avengers?

Disney‘s recently launched streaming service is the exclusive home in the U.S. for subscription-video-on-demand viewing of the newest live-action and animated series and movies from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and Fox. The service is ad-free, supported solely by subscription fees, and will be available on gaming consoles, smart TV’s, and connected streaming devices.