The Russo Brothers Call Themselves Out For Hyping Up The MCU's Most Controversial Casting Choice

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Jason is an award-winning journalist whose writing career dates back to when he developed the ability to use a crayon. He, most notably, worked previously as a "professional fan," as he likes to call it, at CinemaBlend, for which he wrote about anything and everything under the pop culture umbrella... especially Batman. His passion for the art of cinema began even earlier, stemming from repeat viewings of The Wizard of Oz.
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Sometimes, the creatives behind Hollywood's most anticipated upcoming releases like to let audiences know that they are not oblivious to the thoughts they post online about what goes on behind the scenes of their movie or even the way it is marketed. Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Avengers: Doomsday, proved themselves to be such filmmakers with a funny meme.

As shared on Sunday, Oct. 26 by the official Instagram account of the Russo Brothers' production company, AGBO, the image depicts the packaging for a Spirit Halloween costume called "Viral Chair: Celebrity Edition," complete with a picture of a man literally wearing a foldout chair that bears the name "Robert Downey Jr." This is a tongue-in-cheek in reference to the live-stream video revealing the Avengers: Doomsday cast from March 2025, which ended with a cameo by the Academy Award winner, who had been previously announced as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Doctor Doom to a polarizing reception.

The post is the Russo Brothers' own take on a popular meme that tends to show up around "spooky season," in which the poster pokes fun at a certain pop culture theme or relatable topic from the real world by imagining it as an official costume sold by the seasonal retailer, Spirit Halloween. The filmmakers really lay the self-parody on thick in the product description, referencing the tedious length of the live-stream, which also mentions the likes of Thor actor Chris Hemsworth and Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman from The Fantastic Four: First Steps) amongst the 27 Avengers: Doomsday cast members named. It even hints at the video's overwhelming viral reception, as seen in the official post below:

It is fitting that it is Robert Downey Jr.'s chair being used as the model for this faux Spirit Halloween product, which fans of the MCU will inevitably try to recreate as their own last-minute costume idea for this year's All Hallows' Eve. The former Iron Man actor's chair was saved for the very end of the five-and-one-half-hour video, despite the fact that his involvement in Avengers: Doomsday as Victor von Doom had been known since July 2024, when Downey made a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic Con.

Said announcement was met with a booming round of applause from those seated during Marvel Studios' Hall H panel, which would not serve as an accurate reflection of the online discussions that followed. Fans were divided on the idea, with some confused by the idea of seeing Tony Stark's face as one Marvel Comics' most iconic supervillains and feeling that Downey's return would undercut the emotional end to his Iron Man tenure at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame.

The Russos Brothers Have Teased Marvel Fans Online Before

Joe and Anthony Russo high-fiving at the premiere of The Electric State

This cheeky Spirit Halloween meme is far from the first time that Joe and Anthony Russo have indulged in having a little fun with their audience on social media. The siblings shared a mysterious image from the Avengers: Doomsday set that seemed to include hints of what to expect from the upcoming superhero movie. Some fans interpreted the Instagram post as a clue that the movie is based on the Avengers vs. X-Men arc.

Seven years earlier, the Russos did something similar during the making of the fourth Avengers movie. An Instagram post saw Joe sitting on a sound stage surrounded by various equipment that cleverly spelled out the film's then-unknown subtitle, "Endgame."

Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters on Dec. 18, 2026.