What a lot of younger fans of Marvel’s The Avengers and related films might not know is that Robert Downey, Jr. was once considered one of Hollywood’s biggest f*ckups. The man who now demands 10 figures to play Tony Stark had himself what the hip kids like to call a little problem with substance abuse back in the day, which of course led to one of the funniest jokes in the movie BASEketball. But Downey also had one of the most incredible comebacks in the entertainment industry’s history, and that’s why he’s smiling at all of those zeroes on his Avengers: Age of Ultron paycheck.
So if there’s one thing that Downey knows, it’s the road to redemption, and he’s currently trying to help pave Mel Gibson’s own path a little better by reportedly asking that the Jew-blamin’, cop-hatin’ star of Braveheart get a role in the Avengers sequel.
“But Robert is raising eyebrows with his efforts on behalf of his longtime best pals Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson,” the source revealed.
“He wants to bring Mel and Jodie into the Marvel universe, preferably in one of the Avengers films. It’s been a longtime dream of Robert’s to help Mel and Jodie reach similar big box office heights like the ones he’s achieved in recent years.” (Via Radar)
Unfortunately, for this to happen, according to Radar’s mysterious “source,” Mel would need to kiss some serious tuckus.
The source said, “Marvel is run by one of the richest and most prominent Israeli businessmen in Hollywood, and you can be sure even if Robert got down on his knees and begged, there’s no place for Mel in the Marvel films.”
Probably the biggest hole in this silly rumor is that if Downey wanted anyone to achieve “big box office heights” through the Marvel films, it would be his younger costars, who have all been the focus of rumors about them being pissed off about not making a lot of money in this billion dollar franchise. But then again, the rumors also had Downey being the figurative union head for his costars, so if Tony Stark wants Bret Maverick and Annabelle Bransford to join the Avengers, there’s probably a good chance that Marvel will make it happen.