Robert Downey Jr. and Pedro Pascal have grown close while filming Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday, with Downey even hosting “homework days” at his home for the cast to workshop scenes. Though Pascal remained coy about what exactly happens during these sessions—responding only, “Very good question”—the camaraderie between the two stars is undeniable.
Downey, who is making a villainous turn as Doctor Doom in the upcoming Avengers film after years as Iron Man, spoke glowingly about Pascal in a new Vanity Fair cover story. “Pascal’s slow trajectory to becoming a household name who is on a wildly hot streak kind of reaffirms my faith in our industry,” he said. Pascal, who will first appear as Reed Richards in July’s Fantastic Four: First Steps before reprising the role in Doomsday, returned the praise, calling Downey “immediately generous and inviting.”
“You feel like you can be afraid, you can be hungry, you can be ambivalent,” Pascal said, acknowledging the initial backlash to his casting as Richards. “There was disgruntlement around my casting—people saying, ‘He’s too old. He’s not right. He needs to shave.’ But Robert was someone I could turn to during those times.”
Vanessa Kirby, Pascal’s Fantastic Four co-star, also weighed in, admiring his openness: “He doesn’t have much armor, so he shows himself to you straight away, and you trust that person because he’s revealing himself to you in this very brave way.”
Meanwhile, Bella Ramsey, Pascal’s The Last of Us co-star and close friend, expressed discomfort with his online “daddy” persona, a label Pascal has playfully embraced in the past. “I felt worried for him,” Ramsey admitted. “I want to protect him from that whole joke. You’re so much more than that.”
Avengers: Doomsday is currently filming at Pinewood Studios ahead of its December 2026 release. For more from Pascal’s revealing interview, read the full cover story on Vanity Fair’s website.
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