Robert Downey Jr. shocked Ryan Reynolds and the writers of Deadpool and Wolverine when he turned down a cameo as Iron Man in the summer blockbuster.
However, his decision became clearer once it was recently revealed that the 59-year-old Oscar winner will be taking on a new character in the Marvelverse.
Before turning down the offer, screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick had planned to open Deadpool & Wolverine with a scene featuring Iron Man (Downey)/Tony Stark and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau).
“We wanted him to do a cameo. We had written that scene (to begin with) with Happy and Downey,” Wernick said. People.
Reese added that Reynolds, 47, had “read the scene with both of them, so we were hoping we could get Downey.”
Robert Downey Jr.’s decision to turn down a cameo in Deadpool and Wolverine came as a surprise to Ryan Reynolds and the film’s writers — until they discovered the reason for the decision a day after the blockbuster opened in theaters on July 26.
After it was announced that the former superhero would star as Victor von Doom (aka Doctor Doom) in two upcoming Avengers films at Comic-Con in San Diego on July 27, the reason became clear.
“Ryan put a lot of pressure on him. We wrote scenes and Downey read them, but what we didn’t know behind the scenes was this Doctor Doom story,” Wernick said.
Favreau ended up doing the scene with Reynolds’ Wade Wilson early in the film, which was similar to what the writers originally envisioned.
“Jon was very kindly connected from the beginning. It worked very well,” they said.
“I mean, look, we would have loved to have Downey. But at the same time, I think Marvel had this ace up their sleeve, which is that he’s about to come back with this different character,” Rheese said.
—So, it was Tony Stark? Did you know that Doctor Doom was coming after that? It just didn’t make sense.
The actor will play the supervillain in the fifth and sixth Avengers films, titled Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Both will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the brothers who directed Avengers: Endgame in 2019, in which Downey’s Iron Man was killed to save the universe.
Reynolds expressed his gratitude to Favreau in an enthusiastic social media post Thursday.
The actor announced that he will play Victor von Doom in two upcoming Marvel films; Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, at San Diego Comic-Con on July 27.
According to screenwriters Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick, Reynolds gave Downey “heavy pressure.” “We wrote scenes and Downey read them, but what we didn’t know behind the scenes was this Doctor Doom story,” Wernick said.
Jon Favreau appeared in a cameo as Happy Hogan. “The film benefited from his incredible performance, but we got something more important: his generosity of time and energy to talk about the story and generate broader ideas and themes,” Reynolds wrote on Instagram. (Photographed in London in April 2023)
“Jon is one of the greats. Yes, the film benefited from his incredible performance, but we got something more important: his generosity of time and energy to talk about the story and generate broader ideas and themes.
As of Aug. 8, the action-adventure film had grossed more than $440 million domestically and another $484 million internationally, for a global box office total of nearly $1 billion, according to Box Office Mojo.
If the current enthusiasm for the film continues, it could easily surpass the $1 billion mark by the end of the August 9-11 weekend.