If you thought the blinkered tribalism between Marvel and DC was restricted solely to the heated battleground of social media, then think again, because Robert Downey Jr. has come clean about his issues referencing the competition on account of his decade-long stint as Tony Stark.
Of course, the actor is only being his self-deprecating self, but if he wasn’t then serious questions would need to be asked about how he ended up as the producer on Netflix’s blockbuster fantasy series Sweet Tooth, which is adapted from the comic book of the same name published by DC’s Vertigo imprint.
Either way, when the Oppenheimer star sat down with Christopher Nolan to answer questions with Wired, RDJ could only whisper the word “Scarecrow” when the subject turned to Cillian Murphy, before revealing that he was having flashbacks to his own Clockwork Orange moment at Kevin Feige’s behest.
“I whispered because I have a problem talking about DC characters. I don’t know if I was programmed or not, but I was in this room with a lot of flashing lights once. Long story, thanks Kevin.”
While nobody would really be all that surprised were Feige really strapping down his stars and brainwashing them in the ways of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the sheer volume of names to have jumped back and forth between the industry’s premiere superhero powerhouses would indicate that it’s not the case.
Or at least, it only appears to be temporary, although Downey Jr.’s monolithic MCU status would realistically make it harder for him to shake off the indoctrination.