James Gunn Responds to Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom MCU Casting

Director James Gunn recently faced the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time.

While a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gunn was asked what he thought of Marvel’s wild and unexpected casting choice and he called it “a smart move,” adding:

“I was thrilled with it. And I love Robert too, so I think it’s great. I think it’s a great idea. I think there is no one better than him.”

It’s definitely a smart move for Marvel if they’re trying to turn heads and get people interested in the future of the franchise.

It’s going to be really weird because from what I understand, Downey Jr. won’t be playing an evil variant of Tony Stark called Victor Von Doom in an alternate universe. He plays a completely separate character and none of the heroes he fought in the Infinity Saga will recognize him as Tony Stark.

So, any actor could have been cast in this role, but Marvel chose Robert Downey Jr., because it was a smart marketing move to create hype for the future of Marvel films.

Downey Jr. spoke about the casting by saying he is the president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige approached him with the idea, calling Feige “a creative thinker”.

He said: “Probably a year ago, because Feige and I have stayed in touch. We’re friends. Favreau, Feige and I have stayed in touch. I’m close to the Russo brothers. We have other business that we’re doing.

“So there’s this little group of fellow travelers, and I had this gut feeling that I wanted to go to Bob Iger. And I had an idea, outside of the cinematic universe, about how I could be helpful to what’s happening in the parks and all of their location-based energy.

“And Susan and I were sitting with Feige at one point, and he said, ‘You keep thinking that, if I were to come back…’ And Susan was like, ‘Wait, wait, come back as What?’ And then we both realized, over time, that it was one more thing that disproved any doubt anyone could ever have about that guy.

“[He’s] a very sophisticated and creative thinker about “How can we not go back?” How not to disappoint expectations? How can we continue to exceed expectations?’ And he talked about Victor von Doom, and I looked into it [the] character, and I was like, “Wow.” And later he says, “Let’s get Victor von Doom straight.” Let’s do it right.”

“So I said to Kevin, ‘Can I go talk to Bob Iger?’ He says, ‘Information?’ I say, ‘About everything.'”

“And I had gone to Bob’s house, which I don’t know how to describe that experience,” Downey continued. “I’ve had a lot of really interesting experiences. We go to Iger’s apartment, sit down and start saying, ‘I just want to be…’ He says, ‘I like it.’ I thought, “He likes it.” He goes, “Come to the Imagineering campus.”

“Feige and I go to the Imagineering campus and… you want to talk about two guys who aren’t easy to wow, let alone at the same time. I can’t say much about it, but what’s happening right now is way beyond my expectations of what was possible. no wonder it was mysterious to me.

“It’s also the only way I felt I could offer certain audiences looking for entertainment, something they might want to experience, in a way I can continue to develop my interest in the future of ‘entertainment.

“Where the hell are you supposed to go over there? So it’s this crazy, weird thing that’s going on, and if it all pans out, we’re just going to remake what a lot of people say is the greatest movie of all time.”