Robert Downey Jr. told tech journalist Kara Swisher he would sue Marvel if the studio replicated his likeness with AI after his death.
Downey Jr. discussed his thoughts on AI during an episode of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast, released on October 21.
The actor retired from the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" when the fictional character died saving the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Thanos, played by Josh Brolin. But Downey Jr. will return to the MCU to play a villain, Doctor Doom, in 2026's "Avengers: Doomsday."
The star clarified that he won't allow Marvel Studios to replicate his likeness using AI in the future, regardless of which character he plays. He added that he's not concerned about Marvel using AI for the moment.
Downey Jr. told Swisher he was confident he'd be involved in decisions about what might happen to Tony Stark's character.
"To go back to the MCU, I'm 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," he said.
Swisher pointed out that Downey Jr. might not know the executives in the future. He replied, "Well, you're right. I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec."
Swisher went on to say Downey Jr. may be dead when the studio could use AI in this way. The actor responded, "But my law firm will still be very active."
Downey Jr.'s concerns about Marvel using AI in the future aren't misplaced.
The superhero genre heavily relies on CGI to depict big action sequences and cameo appearances. Since studios have a bank of readily available footage, producing AI recreations of popular characters is easier than ever.
For example, in 2023's "The Flash," Warner Bros. brought Christopher Reeve back using a blend of CGI and AI technology to create a cameo role for the deceased Superman actor in a multiverse montage.
Downey Jr. is the second "Avengers" star to speak out about the use of AI.
In May, OpenAI demoed several voice options for their latest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4o. Users quickly recognized that one of the voice options sounded like Scarlett Johansson, who played the MCU Black Widow character.
In a statement to BI in May, Johansson said that Sam Altman, Open AI's CEO, had contacted her in September 2023 asking her to voice ChatGPT, but she declined.
The actor added that Altman reached out to her days before GPT-4o was announced and asked her to reconsider. Before she responded, the demo had been released, she said.
The actor said she was "forced to hire legal counsel" and was "in disbelief" that the company chose a voice so similar to hers.
OpenAI paused the voice that sounded similar to Johansson but didn't specify why.
Toward the end of the podcast, Swisher also asked Downey Jr. why he has invested in AI companies in recent years, given his resistance to its potential application in the film industry. In 2023, he joined the board of a security startup called Aura, which aims to fight cybercrime.
"It always comes down again to not the technology or the opportunity to line my pockets as much as, 'Who are the people involved with this? Do I think they have a moral psychology?'" Downey Jr. said.
"So I'm a little more agnostic about these things," he said.
Correction: October 29, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the year Sam Altman reached out to Scarlett Johansson about voicing a version of ChatGPT. Johansson said Altman reached out to her in September 2023, not September 2024.
