In what industry insiders are already calling the single most seismic shift in modern Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr. has officially walked away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and from Disney entirely — to join forces with Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg in their newly formed “uncensored” independent studio.
The move, confirmed late last night through a joint statement from the three actors, comes less than two weeks after Mark Ruffalo publicly announced his own departure from the MCU, citing “creative suffocation” and “ideological conformity” as his reasons for leaving. Sources close to Downey say Ruffalo’s exit was the decisive factor that pushed him over the edge.
“Tony Stark has officially left the building — and he’s not going back,” Downey, 60, said in a rare on-camera video statement released this morning. “I gave everything to Marvel for 15 years. I loved the character, I loved the fans, I loved the ride. But the machine stopped listening. It stopped taking risks. And after Mark [Ruffalo] walked, I realized I couldn’t keep pretending this was still the same place I signed up for.”
The new studio, currently operating under the placeholder name “Liberty Pictures” (though insiders say a more provocative name is in final negotiations), is being positioned as a deliberate alternative to what Downey, Gibson, and Wahlberg describe as “corporate censorship” and “forced ideological messaging” in mainstream studios.
Gibson, 69, whose controversial past has kept him largely on the fringes of Hollywood in recent years, will serve as creative chairman. Wahlberg, 54, will act as co-founder and lead producer. Downey is expected to headline the studio’s first major feature, a gritty, faith-infused action-thriller currently titled The Last Stand — a script Gibson has been quietly developing for over a year.
According to multiple production sources, Downey delivered a private ultimatum to Disney and Marvel Studios executives during a closed-door meeting in late December: either allow him greater creative control over future Iron Man projects and loosen the franchise’s content restrictions, or he would walk permanently. When the studios declined, Downey made good on the threat.
Ruffalo’s departure — announced on January 5 with a blistering Instagram post criticizing “the sanitized, committee-driven storytelling” of the MCU — reportedly served as the catalyst. “Mark’s exit showed me the door was already open,” Downey told a close friend. “If even the Hulk was done playing by their rules, why should I keep pretending?”
The news has sent shockwaves through Disney’s 2026 production slate. Multiple upcoming Marvel projects, including Avengers: Doomsday and Iron Man 4 (which was in early development), are now in limbo. Sources say Disney is scrambling to recast or rewrite Iron Man’s role, with no clear successor in sight.
Gibson, speaking at a small press event this afternoon, was unapologetic: “We’re building a place where artists can take risks again — where stories don’t have to pass through 12 committees and 8 sensitivity readers. If that scares the big studios, good. They should be scared.”
Wahlberg echoed the sentiment: “Hollywood forgot how to tell real stories. We’re here to remind them — and to give audiences something they’ve been starving for: honesty, edge, and no apologies.”
Social media reaction has been explosive and deeply divided. #RDJLeavesMarvel and #LibertyPictures are trending worldwide, with fans split between heartbreak (“Iron Man without Downey is like Batman without Bale”) and celebration (“Finally, someone’s fighting back against the woke machine”).
Disney has not yet issued a formal statement, though sources say the studio is “deeply disappointed” and exploring legal options related to Downey’s existing contracts.
For Downey, the decision is both personal and philosophical. “I’ve spent the last decade playing a character who stands for truth and independence,” he said in his video. “I can’t keep doing that while staying silent about what’s happening in this industry. Sometimes, the only way to stay true to the role is to walk away from the machine.”
As the trio prepares to break ground on their first film, Hollywood braces for what could be the beginning of a larger exodus — or the birth of a defiant new independent empire.
Tony Stark may have left the building.
But the fight he started — for creative freedom — is just getting started.
