Two weeks ago, Jeff Sneider appeared on film critic John Rocha’s show and dropped a blind item about an “incident” that had gone down early into the filming of Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday. The only name he mentioned was Robert Downey Jr., and that was in the context that RDJ’s way was the “only way that mattered.” The next day, Comic Book Movie reported that they’d heard that whatever happened had been bad enough that some scenes between the two actors involved had to be “altered or removed from the script entirely.”
As you can imagine, these reports got people’s attention. Rocha was on Kristian Harloff’s show, where he revealed that the beef between the two big, outspoken stars was the result of a “comment that was made in jest that was a bit too familiar.” Armed with this new information, MCU fans went into speculation overdrive, with the general consensus being that the two feuding actors were RDJ and Ryan Reynolds. Over a week later, Marvel is finally addressing these rumors. According to a source, there is no feud. In fact, RDJ and RR have never actually met each other in person.
Contrary to online chatter, Ryan Reynolds and Robert Downey Jr. are not feuding. There is “zero bad blood,” a source tells PEOPLE exclusively, between the two Marvel Cinematic Universe superstars.
Citing Cosmic Book News and John Rocha’s podcast The Hot Mic, outlets including The Express Tribune and The Times of India reported the rumor that a joke gone too far led to conflict between two actors on the set of an upcoming Marvel movie, presumed to be Avengers: Doomsday.
Social media users began to speculate that the actors in question were Reynolds, 48, and Downey Jr., 60. While the latter is confirmed to be filming Doomsday — as Doctor Doom, rather than reprising his previous MCU role of Iron Man — Reynolds has not been confirmed to be returning as Deadpool.
Furthermore, the insider notes to PEOPLE, “The two have never met in person.”
Oh, something for sure went down on that set. I just haven’t figured out who was involved. While I think that RDJ could be one of the aggrieved parties, Rocha did some damage control on Sunday, saying that it was definitely not him or Ryan. It’s true that Ryan’s participation hasn’t been confirmed yet, but around the same time that these rumors started, Ryan made an Instagram post that teased a Deadpool appearance. I have no idea who else it could be, though, because when you look at the cast list, they are the only two actors that fit the clues at surface level. I mean, do we really think that Patrick Steward and Sir Ian McKellen are suddenly throwing down over a bad joke? Jokes aside, everyone is in this movie, so there are plenty of candidates.
According to Rocha, that set is so dysfunctional that it’s “rivaled only by that of Fast and Furious movies.” Yikes. I can believe that. There was some chatter at Comic-Con about how much of a mess the Doomsday set was, and it was particularly about the reshoots and the fact that the script isn’t finished being written yet. I was already skeptical about the next Avengers installments. These stories are not making me feel better.
Photos credit: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com/Avalon, IMAGO/Faye Sadou/Avalon, Getty
” There was some chatter at Comic-Con about how much of a mess the Doomsday set was, and it was particularly about the reshoots and the fact that the script isn’t finished being written yet”
Ugh! When will these people learn –
It’s the storytelling, stupid.
If they don’t have a solid, completed script, why are they even filming?
Wait, don’t tell me … the answer is money
But they’d likely make more money if they started with a compelling story to tell. Or even just coherent.
And denials aside, I can totally see how two egotastic inveterate ad-libbers with FU money could clash while filming, especially with a flimsy script to work off.
“But they’d likely make more money if they started with a compelling story to tell”
This is the key. I actually the movie will turn out to be very entertaining and successful….because they have all the money in the world to spend reworking and reshooting and more than a year until release. But…why do that? Why make the movie in the most chaotic way possible and end up making less money overall because the budget is so high?
So I’d argue that having all the money to rework and reshoot doesn’t necessarily mean that it will turn out okay. It might! I have no idea. I think it’ll make money but will it be that good? Maybe?
Sometimes there’s a movie, usually an older one, that you just love and then later you hear the set was a mess and you’re like oh wow that’s crazy. That is….not the case with Marvel. A lot of these big budget green/blue screen movies are a mess to make and then they look ugly and are a mess to watch.
I believe it’s not RDJ or Reynolds. None of what little info that leaked fits and Reynolds being mentioned on random social media seems sketchy given all the stuff surrounding his wife’s lawsuit with what’s his face (sorry, I’m not googling).
It’s definitely two big names though (at least Marvel-big). Otherwise the studio would not have been trying that hard to appease. But listening to the actual story it sounds more like an inappropriate comment/comments were made and then there was a “feud”. And apparently it’s all cooled down now, so, meh?
So I took a look at the extensive cast list and saw Kelsey Grammar is in it. Why do I think he is one of the two involved?
Also, no one has mentioned any of the women in this, and I can see a woman as one of the two in the feud because this is a heavy men-centric cast and you know a man will say something dumb to a woman thinking it’s funny when it’s not.
Ohhh, I could see this happening with Kelsey! It wouldn’t be any of the original Avengers cast — they know how to work together — it would have to be a d__k with an ego. I love KG’s work (he’s a real talent), but at the end of the day he’s MAGA — and therefore a bitter, entitled ego.
… Please don’t tell me Blake L. is on that set. 😉
I’m not surprised there is friction on the set. Let’s count the casts: Avengers, Fantastic Four, XMen, Shang Chi, Thunderbolts, Moon Knight (maybe). so many egos. I believe whatever was said offended RDJ. He’s the highest ranked Marvel actor on that set. Now who was the offender…it’s anyone’s guess.
the moon knight reference is the only thing that’s gotten me even a little interested in seeing this mess. i really liked the show, and admit it’s mostly because of my fangirl crust on oscar isaacs. i was happy to see simu liu back as shang chi, because i really think he deserved a second movie. but other than that, there’s absolutely nothing of interest to me here.
Reynolds should not be feuding with ANYONE for the general sake of PR.
Recycling RDJ as Dr. Doom is enough to make me not watch this — and I have watched EVERY Marvel offering, some painfully, but that was the last straw. I love RDJ, I love him as Tony Stark and that is all I will ever see.
Orange Ryan needs to do some serious soul searching. Maybe the spray tan has him thinking he’s a Trump.
There’s a lot of big egos on this cast – and a lot of money involved, too. I think that’s the key, because if it’s true, the two actors involved would have to be big enough to warrant altering the script/shooting schedule on (presumably) two major films. That’s not nothing. Disney has centred these films around RDJ and invested a lot of money in him coming back, so it makes sense that they would do whatever it took to keep him happy. I struggle to think of anyone else on the cast (that we know about) that would have that kind of power. Most of the other names on those chairs are replaceable for Marvel. If, like, David Harbour got into it with Kelsey Grammar, they could cut both of them out more easily than spending money on separate reshoots (not saying it was either, btw, just an example). So just following the money, yes, I think RDJ had to be involved.
Downey is also a political conservative, has a troubled past with drug use and jail time that he doesn’t talk or joke about (which is understandable) and most importantly, he is used to having the final say on set. I could see him clashing with several personalities, including Reynolds, who is also used to being at the top of the call sheet. I could 100% see one or both of these dudes improving a joke that offended the other. Deadpool is also a popular character that made a ton of money last year, so Disney wouldn’t be quick to fire him. Plus, uh, you don’t have to see Deadpool’s face – they could just have a guy in a red suit act with RDJ and ask Ryan to record the audio later. That’s what I think is being alluded to here.
I am looking at the very specific wording “The two have never met in person” and that Ryan hasn’t been on the set yet. I can very easily imagine a scenario where a zoom meeting or script runthrough that included these two ended terribly and both actors refused to even be on set together. It certainly doesn’t bode well…
RDJ is not a conservative. This gets recycled all the time. He made a remark twenty years ago about not coming out of prison a liberal. He’s been involved in major Democrat fundraisers the last few election cycles.
And Jeff Schneider sucks balls. He’s NEVER right about anything. I follow the MCU and no one trusts this dude.
I’m just in shock that RDJ is freakin 60!
I mean- it’s just 5 years older than my husband, but I’d still hit it like a house on fire (he seems like he’d be hyper focused and extremely…energetic) lol
Looking at the cast list, if we are talking ‘big name’ (in general or just for Marvel) and ‘outspoken’ we have, in no particular order: Florence Pugh, Letitia Wright, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, Anthony Mackie.