Robert Downey Jr. Flat Out Says Marvel Has Been in a ‘Let Down’ Phase

By Mike Redmond |

News
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June 22, 2026

Header Image Source: Getty

As the drumbeat for Avengers: Doomsday picks up, let me put my cards on the table: I want the movie to be good. For starters, I’ll be paying cash money to sit in a theater — a.k.a. hell on earth — and I’d really like for that four hour experience to not suck. Second, when Marvel cooks, it cooks. I don’t care how nerdy or cringe this makes me sound, but the MCU had some solid hits that were pure movie magic, and it bodes well for Doomsday that the writing and directing team for the franchise’s best installment are in place.

That being said, it’s no secret that Marvel took a nosedive post-Avengers: Endgame as it embarked on The Multiverse Saga. The one-two punch of COVID and a streaming strategy that sucked the oxygen out of the room brought the whole franchise crashing down, and the whole Jonathan Majors situation definitely didn’t help. With the exception of Deadpool & Wolverine’s box office, Marvel went from must see to, eh, let’s wait for Disney+. Granted, while Spider-Man: Brand New Day looks primed to break the box office curse, Marvel is in serious trouble if its flagship Avengers can’t put butts in seats. That dynamic has led to some interesting admissions about the current state of Marvel.

Hot on the heels of increased messaging that nothing post-Endgame matters, Robert Downey Jr. is now openly taking a dump on the past six years by calling it a “let down.”

Via CBR:

There’s some experimentation. We’ve had our moments of, ‘Let’s shift here.’ But we landed in a place that I think will more than suffice. And it’s not even about how I executed it. It’s about the way it’s been structured, and the other characters. There’s something going on in Doomsday and forward that is literally the only antidote to, ‘How do you not have these films be let down after an Infinity War and an Endgame?’ And boy, have we labored long and hard to bring that down.”

In RDJ and the Russo brothers’ defense, is this the only way forward for Marvel? Just straight-up dog The Multiverse Saga and hope to God bringing back everyone’s faves kickstarts the engines? Maybe it is! It’s definitely wild to observe though. There are actors and whole creative teams who are basically watching Iron Man say, “Don’t worry. I won’t let this one suck like their movies.” That’s gotta be neat for them.