In a recent episode of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast, Oscar winner and Marvel superstar Robert Downey Jr. revealed he plans to sue any Hollywood executive who uses his likeness in the form of a digital AI replica to recreate him after his death.
Downey was asked about what he thinks the future of Hollywood will look like with the emergence of AI technologies and how he feels about the technology being used to recreate popular actors after they have passed away. The topic presented itself through questions asked about Downey and his tenure as Iron Man. Downey said he is confident that Marvel executives won't recreate him as Iron Man, as he believes the people in control know him very well and "they would never do that to me, with or without me."
However, when asked 'what about future executives?' Downey acknowledged there will certainly be a push, at one stage or another, for his likeness to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) after he has passed away. But that push by future executives will be met with legal ramifications by Downey's law firm, as the Oscar-winning actor explained,"I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec."You'll be dead," Swisher noted. "But my law firm will still be very active," responded Downey
"I don't envy anyone who has been over-identified with the advent of this new phase of the information age. The idea that somehow it belongs to them because they have these super huge start-ups is a fallacy. The problem is when these individuals believe that they are the arbiters of managing this but meanwhile are wanting and/or needing to be seen in a favorable light. That is a massive fucking error. It turns me off and makes me not want to engage with them because they are not being truthful," said Downey