Summary
Robert Downey Jr. is making a big comeback in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the big bad, Doctor Doom. One of hisAvengersco-stars jokingly said he felt RDJ stole his limelight when the latter’s return was announced on the same day theCaptain America: Brave New Worldtrailer was released at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC).
An exclusive footage of the upcomingCaptain America: Brave New Worldstarring Anthony Mackie was released at the SDCC. It’s the firstCaptain Americamovie sans Chris Evans as the titular superhero. Mackie took the stage with his co-stars Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Ramirez, and Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Sidewinder. The upcoming superhero flick is Ford’s MCU debut as President Thaddeus Ross, aka the Red Hulk. While fans celebrated the upcoming Marvel movies, the whole event was seemingly overshadowed by the announcement aboutRDJ’s return to the MCU, this time as supervillain Doctor Doom years after his exit from the franchise following his character Iron Man’s death inAvengers: Endgamein 2019. OneCaptain Americastar got candid about his reaction to Downey Jr.’s MCU comeback.
Mackie spoke withEntertainment Tonightand was asked about his reaction to Downey Jr.’s MCU return. TheHurt Lockeractor shared his hilarious reaction while recounting the event. According to him, people were initially ecstatic when they saw theCaptain America: Brave New Worldtrailer and he was feeling good because he had Ford with him and the latter knew his name. However, when it was announced that Downey Jr. was back in the MCU, he felt that nobody cared about his show or him anymore. When the interviewer told him they cared and RDJ’s big comeback only showed that anything could happen, Mackie jokingly responded, “he could have did that, the day after. He could have did that now, this is D23.”
Mackie also shared a “true story” with RDJ that happened before he learned that the latter was rejoining them in the MCU. He said, “Okay, I’m giving you facts on my relationship with Robert Downey Jr. and why he shouldn’t have did this to me,” Mackie said while looking straight at the camera with a huge smile on his face. According to him, they were on the set, without mentioning the title of the film, and everybody was standing outside their trailer waiting for whom RDJ would invite for lunch. He also went outside his trailer and saw a golf cart with Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow). He then sawChris Evans (Captain America)and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk) in the golf cart. Mackie felt that everybody was invited except him until the golf cart came to fetch him. He excitedly rode on the cart, and they went to RDJ’s base camp. Mackie said RDJ’s chef cooked a goat. He said, “He cooked me a goat; he could have let me have that day.” When asked what he wanted to happen in the nextAvengerssince RDJ was back as the supervillain, he gave a straight response while laughing,“I hope I get to punch Robert Downey Jr. in the face for feeding me goat and then stealing my day. You can’t give a grown man goat and then steal his day. What’s wrong with you?“Mackie could be talking about their set in theCivil Waras he shared the same story when he appeared onLive With Kelly And Michael. The ET host said there would definitely be an epic battle, and since Mackie is Captain America, he might face RDJ’s Doctor Doom. Mackie doubled down on his initial response, saying,“I’m gonna punch him in his face, and then I’m gonna ask him for some goat,“before laughing. Mackie also made a similar response when he spoke withThe Hollywood Reporterand was asked about the same thing.
Mackie said:
I better kill him first. I get first dibs to knock him off. Yeah, he’s going to pull a hamstring or something, I am going to take him down. I am not going lightly into this dark night.
Robert Downey Jr. has a solid friendship with his Marvel co-stars, so he will surely not take Mackie’s comments the wrong way. The two actors have worked on several films together in the MCU franchise, includingAvengers: Age of Ultron(2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).The pair will reunite on the big screen for the next twoAvengersmovies,Doomsday (2026)andSecret Wars (2027). The Marvel stars have been working for several years already, so it’s not surprising that they have developed a tight friendship. Jeremy Renner previously spoke about thebrotherhood and sisterhood in the MCU. According to theHawkeyestar, he would rather go to jail with Downey Jr. than do something amazing on his own, which only showed that RDJ was really close to his co-stars.
