Robert Downey Jr. described himself as a “recovering white American male” when asked about his thoughts on Elon Musk while promoting his Broadway play MCNEAL.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Robert Downey Jr. speaks onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
In an interview with Kara Swisher on her podcast “On with Kara Swisher,” Downey was asked, “How do you feel about [Elon Musk] think he’s-. He’s cosplaying Tony Stark almost all the time. Hold back on the ketamine a little bit, you know that kind of thing.”
Downey responded, “I’ve only met him a few times. As an almost 60-year-old recovering white American male, I just wish that he would control his behavior a little more, but that’s not on me. I know that this idea of ‘It’s all okay ’cause we’ve gotta get to Mars’ doesn’t really hold water with me. But again, you know, you have to look at all that he’s done that demonstrates why he’s valuable.”
He continued,’ And again, nowadays separating the individual from their behavior is a tough thing to do because hell is other people and that has been hijacked in this information age to divide us rather than allow for discourse, debate, and dialogue.”
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in Iron Man 2 (2010), Marvel Studios
READ: Rumor: Robert Downey Jr.’s Return To The MCU As Doctor Doom Is A “Diversion” For A Big Twist
Ironically, Iron Man screenwriter Mark Fergus claimed that the movie version of Tony Stark was inspired by Elon Musk.
He told New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer back in 2022, “Howard Hughes had blazed the trail for all the stuff that Elon is doing now. He established that turf back in the ’40s — the way he’s running his companies, dealing with the SEC, the government, politics, Hollywood, and investors. That was our rock-star industrialist model for Tony Stark.”
“But Howard Hughes — I think people don’t know who the hell that is. Back in the early 2000s, when we were saying, ‘Who would be the Howard Hughes of now? Who’s an industrialist who would also be on the gossip pages? Is there even anyone like that?,’ Elon’s name was definitely in the conversation as the guy who grabbed the torch,” he shared.
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in Iron Man (2008), Marvel Entertainment
Fergus continued, “Him, Trump, and maybe a little Steve Jobs. Trump was fun before he became president — he was actually kind of a goofy celebrity. Steve Jobs was always serious and angry; he never quite had that gift of the bulls**t, the working the crowd that Musk has a real natural talent for.”
“Musk took the brilliance of Jobs with the showmanship of Trump. He was the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance. I’m not sure we talked about too many other people; there are not many people like that around. It’s dangerous to be a celebrity businessman. One scandal and it’s billions of dollars. People want their CEOs to shut up and be good, quiet figures who aren’t in the paper dating celebrities. Because s**t can happen,” he concluded.
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in Iron Man (2008), Marvel Entertainment
Downey is expected to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but as the villainous Doctor Doom rather than the heroic Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
Downey’s return was announced at San Diego Comic-Con with Joe Russo proclaiming, “We give you the one person who can play Victor Von Doom.” Robert Downey Jr. then walks forward and tears off his Doctor Doom mask”
Robert Downey Jr. is Doctor Doom#SDCC24 #FantasticFour pic.twitter.com/pOkdQoOATu
— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) July 28, 2024
However, there is a rumor that Downey’s announcement as Doctor Doom is a diversion. Scooper WDW Pro shared, “I don’t like to spoil films. And to tell you exactly what I have heard is happening here would spoil two films at least. So here’s what I will say. If you wanted to have RDJ, Robert Downey Jr., come back for the Avengers, and if you wanted what he’s really going to do to be a surprise then you would need a diversion. You would need a misdirection something like having him come out as Doctor Doom and announcing that he’s playing Doctor Doom at the San Diego Comic-Con. You might then be able to have him film and I’m sure he will play Doctor Doom.”
WDW Pro continued, “I’m just saying to all of you out there without getting into the specificities because, again, I do not want to ruin a movie for anyone and that goes against the ethos of this channel. I’m just recommending to you that there is more to this than meets the eye. And they are trying to save a huge applause for when you go into that cinema when you go in and you see those movies.”
“So, if you needed to have RDJ do something fantastic you need cover because cannot film the movie with him without people knowing about it,” he explained. “He can’t just be a cameo. That’s not going to work. And if he’s more than a cameo everyone’s going to know. And he needs to be on the red carpet so you need a cover. That is all I’m going to say without going into any specifics of what’s actually going to happen.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: (L-R) Joe Russo, Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Russo speak onstage during the Marvel Studios Panel in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
What do you make of Downey’s comments?
