In recent years, we've seen a number of actors express concern about the potential for AI likenesses to be made of them without their consent. Count MCU Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. among them, but he's taking it a step further. He says he'll sue any executive who tries to make an AI out of him, even after he's dead.
Downey Jr. was recently on the On With Kara Swisher podcast to discuss McNEAL, a new one-act play he is currently starring in on Broadway that deals with the question of AI use in literature. During the discussion, Downey Jr. was confronted about the circulation of "deepfakes" of himself and other actors, and the recent SAG-AFTRA strikes over, among other things, AI protections for actors.
He was asked by Swisher about the concern that film executives could simply resurrect Tony Stark using AI technology without needing his performance at all. Swisher also contextualized this with the news that Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU not as Tony Stark, but as Doctor Doom, and is being "recreated" in a sense as a villain. "You're kind of on Elon [Musk]'s journey right now, from a hero to a villain," she said. Downey Jr. responded as follows:
"Well first of all, I am not on Elon's journey. There's more to the story than just the next chapter that I'm aware of. There's two tracks. One is how do I feel about everything that's going on, and my answer is, I feel about it minimally because I have an actual emotional life that’s occurring that doesn’t have a lot of room for that. And to go back to the MCU, I am not worried about them hijacking my character’s soul because there’s like three or four guys and gals who make all the decisions there anyway and they would never do that to me, with or without me."
Swisher noted that while the people Downey Jr. references might not, future executives potentially could. He responded: "Well, you're right. And I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec."
"You'll be dead, Robert," Swisher replied.
"I know, but my law firm will still be very active."
Last year, the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) went on an over 100-day strike in an effort to push Hollywood studios to reach a deal on, among other things, AI protections for actors.
Meanwhile, Downey Jr. himself has been vocal about his feelings on AI for some time now. He's not fully anti-AI, as demonstrated by his investment in an AI-based cybersecurity firm, and he's also released a nine-part YouTube series called The Age of AI, where he discusses how AI could potentially change the world. He will return to the MCU as Doctor Doom in 2027 with Avengers: Doomsday.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
