That Time the Internet Thought Robert Downey Jr. Was in ‘House of the Dragon’

The Internet is a magical, if wacky place where fans’ dreams can become real. Sort of. At the very least, those fan dreams can be very entertaining. Case in point, a recent social media post that had fans wondering if Tony Stark was involved in the Dance of the Dragons.

All Starks are not created equal

The MCU has become so ingrained in our collective psyche that you can’t hear the name “Stark” without thinking of a certain gentleman in an iron suit. The parody account @disbussingfilm recently posted to Threads ahead of this week’s episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon to “announce” an interesting development to the plot. The thread reads:

“Robert Downey Jr. will appear in tonight’s episode of ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’ as Cregan Stark’s “weird Uncle Tony.”

HouseoftheDragon

Beneath the text is a publicity photo of Downey Jr. at an event captured mid-silly face, clearly chosen for its level of seriousness.

For those who have as much trouble keeping up with all the characters and bloodlines in the Game of Thrones universe as I do, Cregan Stark (played by Tom Taylor) is the head of House Stark during the events of House of the Dragon, making him an ancestor to Ned Stark (Sean Bean). He makes his first season two appearance in episode one, “A Son for a Son.” Cregan meets Rhaenyra’s son, Jace Velaryon (Harry Collett) at The Wall. Jace has come to petition for House Stark’s support in any upcoming conflict, and Cregan affirms that House Stark will honor the oath made by his father, declaring that Rhaenyra is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

So, what was that about RDJ playing his weird uncle?

Now, it seems pretty obvious that @disbussingfilm’s thread is a joke, even to those who aren’t already aware that this is a parody account. Especially considering that if someone of Downey Jr.’s caliber were going to be making an appearance on House of the Dragon, we’d be hearing about it everywhere, and from closer-to-the-show sources. Many, like Threads user @c_newmyer were totally in on the joke, and made jokes of their own:

However, some folks responding to the thread seemed to be genuinely confused, either about this being real, or about the original poster’s seriousness.

Did Robert Downey Jr. go to Westeros?

Short answer: no. Slightly longer answer: Obviously f***ing not!

Now, were the folks saying things like “Fake news I’ve watched it and I think I would notice if Tony stark was in it lmao” also being satirical in their responses? Could they have been saying things like “Source: trust me bro” sarcastically? That’s absolutely possible.

But since the Internet is a tricky place in which to establish tone, I just want to be clear to everyone within reach of this post: Robert Downey Jr. was not on House of the Dragon this week, nor are there any reported plans to have him on the show at all.

Though it would be pretty hilarious on the show’s part to make that happen. Paging Ryan Condal. Only you (coupled with probably millions of dollars from HBO) can make this joke a reality. Surely a social media post reference is worth millions. Right?