Marvel stars react to Robert Downey Jr's return to the MCU: From Mark Ruffalo to Florence Pugh
How Robert Downey Jr’s co-stars reacted to his MCU return: From Mark Ruffalo to Gwyneth Paltrow
It still feels surreal to know that Robert Downey Jr is finally back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom after previously hanging his boots as Tony Stark aka the superhero Iron Man in 2019. While Downey Jr retired his beloved character of Iron Man after playing the superhero for the last time in 2019's 'Avengers: Endgame', he is now back with a bang and fans can't get enough of it. By the looks of it, even his Marvel co-stars are harboring the same sentiments as they are taking to social media and various interviews to express their frenzied surprise. On Saturday, July 27, it was announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that the Oscar winner, after playing a grey character in last summer's blockbuster 'Oppenheimer', is returning as a villain. It was announced that the 59-year-old actor would be playing villain Victor von Doom (aka Doctor Doom) in the next two 'Avengers' movies - 'Avengers: Doomsday' and 'Avengers: Secret Wars', per People. Here's how some of his Marvel co-stars reacted to the news.
1. Mark Ruffalo
One of the original six Avengers, Mark Ruffalo, who played the role of Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk), welcomed the news with a cheeky pop culture reference. After making the grand announcement at the Comic-Con, Downey Jr posted the news on his Instagram with the caption, "New mask, same task." Ruffalo, who appeared alonside Downey Jr in several 'Avengers' movies, wrote on the comment section, "Hey Brat, green suits you," referring to the significance of color green in English pop star Charli XCX's album 'Brat'.
2. Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow, who played Tony Stark's love interest Pepper Potts in the 'Iron Man' and 'Avengers' series, still can't believe Robert Downey Jr has turned into a supervillain after essaying superhero for so long. Underneath the 59-year-old actor's Instagram post, Paltrow commented, "I don’t get it, are you a baddie now?"
3. Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh, who made her Marvel debut after Robert Downey Jr left the franchise in 2019, was not present to experience the revealation first hand, but she can guess the hype. Downey Jr's 'Oppenheimer' co-star - who was attended the Comic-Con as a panel member but left before the announcement was made - joined MCU in 2021 as Yelena Belova in 2021’s 'Black Widow'. During an interview with Variety later in the evening, she said, "I didn’t see this." After watching the video of the reveal, she said, "I bet it went insane in there.'
4. Frank Grillo
Frank Grillo, known for his role of Brock Rumlow (Crossbones) in MCU, knows the impact of Robert Downey Jr's return to the universe and reacted befittingly. Rumlow who appeared alongside Downey Jr in 'Endgame', reacted with a series of fire emojis, writing, "🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 amazing."
5. Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldaña, who recurrently played Gamora in the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' series welcomed the news of Robert Downey Jr's return with a loud round of applaudse, at least virtually. She reacted with a series of clapping emojis.
6. David Harbour
David Harbour made hilarious jokes as he heard the news of Robert Downey Jr's return. Harbour, who made his debut along with Pugh, quipped to Variety, "It’s bad news, that guy’s, according to the Russo Brothers, the greatest actor in the world." He added with a laugh, "Nobody wants to act with that guy," while referring to comments made at the panel.
7. Sebastian Stan
Sebastian Stan feels it is "surreal" to have Robert Downey Jr back in the MCU. The actor, who appears as Bucky Barnes, shared in an interview with Variety at the Comic-Con red carpet, "Listen, as soon as I got out of the car after five hours of driving over here, someone said, 'Robert is here.' And I was like, 'That’s not happening, that’s not happening.' I think we just found out on the spot," before adding, "It was surreal." He concluded, "There’s absolutely nothing that Robert Downey Jr can’t do."
