We are roughly six months away from the release of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, a massively anticipated MCU sequel that marks the celebrated return of Robert Downey Jr. (in a different role) and the Russo Brothers – directors of the monumental double header of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Precious few have succeeded at the level of Joe and Anthony Russo when it comes to balancing the scale and the emotion necessary to deliver hit ensemble Marvel movies.
So it’s a bit of a surprise to find out how much the Russo brothers are figuring things out on the fly as they shoot these massive Marvel sequels.
CBR Exclusive · Quiz WHICH MARVEL CHARACTER ARE YOU? Your Powers Are About to Be Revealed The Marvel Universe is full of extraordinary people — genius billionaires, super-soldiers, sorcerers, and gods. Twenty questions stand between you and the truth. Answer honestly. Your true self will assemble.
Iron Man
Captain America
Black Widow
Thor
Spider-Man
01
You’re outnumbered and outgunned. What do you do? A hero’s instinct is defined in their darkest moment.
02
Your team disagrees with your plan. How do you handle it? Every Avenger has their own idea of teamwork.
03
What does your hero identity mean to you? The mask — or the lack of one — says everything.
04
How do you typically make big decisions? A hero’s process shapes their outcome.
05
Someone takes credit for your work in front of everyone. You: Pride is the armor and the weakness of every hero.
06
A government agency wants to oversee your activities. Your response? Accountability is the line every hero must face.
07
When facing a villain, your strategy is: Every fighter has a philosophy.
08
Your biggest personal flaw is: Every hero has a crack in the armor.
09
A rookie hero is overwhelmed on their first mission. You: How a hero mentors others reveals their character.
10
What drives you more than anything else? The “why” behind the hero is everything.
11
You’ve just suffered a crushing defeat. What’s next? A hero is measured by how they get back up.
12
You could end a threat permanently — but it crosses an ethical line. You: The hardest choices define a hero from a weapon.
13
What do you actually fear most? Even the mightiest hero has something to lose.
14
People who just met you would describe you as: First impressions carry a grain of truth.
15
What’s your ideal base of operations? Where a hero operates reveals how they think.
16
What does “being a hero” actually mean to you? The philosophy behind the power is the real definition.
17
What do you want to leave behind? The mark a hero leaves is their truest measure.
18
Someone you love is in danger. Your first move is: Crisis strips away everything but the truth.
19
Your power — where does it come from? Origin shapes destiny in the Marvel Universe.
20
The final battle. Everything is on the line. You: This is the moment that defines everything.
THE MARVEL UNIVERSE HAS SPOKEN YOUR HERO IDENTITY
Your scores are shown below. The character with the highest number is your match. Read their description to discover which hero the universe chose for you.
Iron Man
Cap. America
Black Widow
Thor
Spider-Man
Brilliant, driven, and uncompromising in your ambition. You believe that the right technology — in the right hands — can solve any problem, and you’re confident enough in your own abilities to back that up. Beneath the armor and the bravado, you carry the weight of responsibility deeply. When it truly matters, you’re willing to sacrifice everything.
Principled, courageous, and steadfast. You have an unshakeable sense of right and wrong, and no amount of pressure, politics, or power can make you compromise it. People trust you instinctively — not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it. You lead not by authority but by example, and you will always get back up.
Strategic, precise, and formidably self-reliant. You don’t need a suit or a superpower — your greatest weapon is your mind and your nerve. You keep your cards close, trust slowly, and operate three steps ahead of everyone else. Your past is complicated, but you’ve turned it into something that makes you nearly impossible to stop.
Powerful, honorable, and ultimately humbled by what truly matters. You came into your power believing it was your birthright — and then you learned it had to be earned. Your strength is immense, but your greatest growth came from learning to serve rather than reign. Loyal to your people, terrifying to your enemies, and always magnificent.
Quick-witted, deeply compassionate, and driven by a responsibility you didn’t ask for. You’ve learned the hard way that great power comes with great cost — and you show up anyway. You stay grounded when others would ascend, and your humanity is your greatest strength. You make it look effortless. It never is.
As part of the run up to the release of Avengers: Doomsday, CBR has been revisiting the previous Russo Brothers collaborations with the brothers. We started with an in-depth discussion about Captain America: Civil War in honor of that film’s 10th anniversary.
This prompted the Russos to also establish conversations about Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. When we scheduled the interview on behalf of Infinity War, they asked if MCU icon Robert Downey Jr. could join us.
Needless to say, with Downey’s involvement in the conversation, we learned a lot about the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the making of Avengers: Infinity War, in the process.
RDJ and Joe Russo talking Infinity WarCredit: David Jon Photography
‘They’re Not Expecting It’
Anyone reading this likely knows that at the end of Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) sacrifices himself to finally stop Thanos (Josh Brolin). He obtains all of the Infinity Stones on his Iron Man suit, then snaps Thanos into obliteration… killing himself in the process.
But it had been rumored, over the years, that the Russos entertained the idea of upping the stakes of Thanos’ reign by having the Mad Titan kill off Stark at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. In fact, there’s a moment on Titan where Thanos stabs Iron Man, though Tony survives the impaling.
Given the opportunity to sit across from both Robert Downey Jr. and Joe Russo to discuss Avengers: Infinity War, I brought up this rumor, and learned it was true. At least, for a little while.
It started with Russo telling CBR:
This happens a lot in these rooms, right? We try to… I’m feeling the heat now. We try to investigate. We try to investigate all angles, right? Everything’s up for grabs. We always say, ‘Best idea wins.’ And a lot of the times you gotta stretch…
Robert Downey Jr.: It’s mine.
Joe Russo: We have to stretch…
RDJ: Mine is just, ‘Don’t kill me.’
Joe Russo: We have to stretch the taffy a little bit, pull the taffy a little bit, stretch it, see where it goes. There was a moment where we thought, ‘They’re not expecting it. This could be the best place to possibly do it.’ But then we’d have to figure out how he could potentially still participate in the next movie. And then we went, ‘Fuck it, let’s just do it in the next movie.’
They did, and it was a spectacular sendoff to the hero who helped Marvel Studios start it all.
Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor DoomImage via Comic-Con International
What’s Next For Downey In The MCU?
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that after helping to launch the MCU with Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. announced his intention to reunite with the Russo Brothers and assume the role of Victor Von Doom in December’s anticipated Avengers: Doomsday.
It’s a bold swing by the studio, to recast one of their biggest heroes as the comics’ most legendary villain. But if Doomsday can approach any of the excitement, the heart, the pathos and the stakes of Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel, Avengers: Endgame, then Marvel will be poised to dominate the Hollywood landscape for the next decade behind legacy characters such as The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Spider-Man, the Avengers, and more.
This is our first story broken out of a 45-minute, exclusive conversation with Robert Downey Jr. and Joe Russo, so make sure that you bookmark CBR, follow us on all of our social channels, and see what RDJ had to say about his time spent in the MCU while sitting down with CBR. It’s a special one.
