Grand Admiral Thrawn is making his live-action Star Wars debut soon, that much is basically certain. After all, The Mandalorian didn’t name-drop the iconic villain, who originated in the old Expanded Universe, in its recent second season for nothing. It’s clear that showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, who are developing various other projects for Disney Plus, have big plans for him, and those plans may involve casting Robert Downey Jr.
A bunch of reports have come out recently claiming that RDJ is in discussions to switch the Marvel universe for the Star Wars galaxy and embody the character of Thrawn. Obviously, this has grabbed folks’ attention and fans have a range of opinions on the idea of the Iron Man star donning blue makeup to potentially portray the Imperial antagonist.
For starters, a lot of people love this left-field bit of casting and couldn’t be more excited by the possibility.
They should cast Robert Downey Jr. in Star Wars. He would make a great Grand Admiral Thrawn or any big character role. pic.twitter.com/GvFuejJA13
— Mitch Ω✨ (@WASDMitch) January 4, 2021
“FANTASTIC.”
In my opinion, Robert Downey Jr will make a FANTASTIC Grand Admiral Thrawn pic.twitter.com/roliuaRvWq
— Orlando Amusement (@OrlandoAmusmnt) January 6, 2021
“BRO.”
BRO if Robert Downey jr gets the Thrawn role I’ll be so happy!
— Chris (@1PunchMane) January 6, 2021
“Hell yes!”
https://twitter.com/georgek65239803/status/1346477027356905475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On the other hand, many feel that – as great an actor as Downey Jr. is – he’s really not the right guy to bring Thrawn to life.
I know we got some larger issues going on, but let's ignore those a hot sec and talk about this.
I love that we're bringing Thrawn to the live screen. I'm so excited. I love Robert Downey Jr. I support RDJ joining the Star Wars Cinematic Universe. But please, not as Thrawn.
— ~Dezi~ (@Just_Dezi_) January 7, 2021
Some think that Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced the villain to perfection in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, should just be brought back for his live-action appearances.
Thrawn trending on twitter!!! Rumors of Robert Downey Jr. being cast for this upcoming live action role. @dave_filoni dont let us down. Cast the original voice actor, Lars Mikkelsen. RDJ would be great, but give credit to the original actor. His voice adds fear to his character. pic.twitter.com/DYkKp77um5
— Brandon Van Scoy (@SkizzleSkazzle) January 6, 2021
What a random bit of casting it would be!
Robert Downey Jr Thrawn seems like the result of one of those exercises where you have a hat full of pieces of paper with nouns written on them and you draw two pieces from that hat and combine them into a new idea. Which is to say: very random, odd to think about.
— Tori Fox (@theMandaTorian) January 6, 2021
“Not him.”
Me: I have no strong opinion on who should play live action Thrawn.
Twitter: Robert Downey Jr 😀
Me: I have one strong opinion on who should play live action Thrawn. pic.twitter.com/Ow52933WCE— jack (@vesaldi) January 6, 2021
Whatever you think about the idea of Downey Jr. playing Thrawn, we can all agree that there’s really only one man for the job.
https://twitter.com/daveyslimmon/status/1346797599639134209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It’s funny that RDJ is the one being linked to the character, as fans have previously championed his fellow Marvel star/Sherlock Holmes actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the perfect Thrawn. The internet would lose it Downey Jr. was cast in the Star Wars saga, though, so it’s almost worth doing just to see Twitter explode.