Watch Robert Downey Jr. And The Russos Fantasy Draft A Team Of Avengers

Watch Robert Downey Jr. And The Russos Fantasy Draft A Team Of Avengers

Four teams. Dozens of Avengers. It’s time to assemble.

ESPN just posted a fun video from the set of Avengers: Endgame in which the Fantasy Sports guru Matthew Berry (who appeared in the movie, which we wrote about extensively here) recruits the film’s directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, as well as a guy by the name of Robert Downey Jr., to each draft a three-person team of Avengers. Who did they pick? Watch the video and find out.


Now, it’s important to note that at no point is it explained what these fantasy teams are going to be doing. Are they actually playing football? Downey Jr. seems to think so. Are they fighting? We don’t know. And it doesn’t matter. It’s just fun.

“It’s a credit to how loose and fun a set the Russo Brothers run and just how good a guy Robert Downey Jr.,” Berry told io9 when we asked about the clip. “We were just sitting around BS-ing and talking a little fantasy football, as that’s how Joe and I met. Cameras are always present on set as they record everything for possible behind-the-scenes use. So I threw out the idea of doing a fantasy draft of Avengers and everyone thought it was fun. No planning whatsoever. We just did it. Such an amazing experience. Gonna be hard for me to top that fantasy draft.”

However, you may still be wondering, where’s the intersection of the Avengers and fantasy sports? Well, as Berry said, Joe Russo is a huge fantasy football fan and, because of that, he became friends with Berry and put him in Avengers: Endgame. Downey also has been known to play fantasy sports and, in fact, told Berry on the set about one such experience.

“At one point after we’d been working together for a while he turned to me and he says, ‘By the way you know I beat you in fantasy football right?’” Berry recounted to io9 a few weeks back. “And I’m like ‘What?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, the Alice in Chains celebrity fantasy football league. We beat you in the semifinals.”

It took a second but Berry finally remembered the league in question, which happened almost a decade ago. “I said ‘I remember that Robert Downey Jr. was in a league but honestly I thought it was your assistant playing. I didn’t think was actually you,’” Berry said. “He just shrugged. ‘Well, now you know.’” 

So it makes sense that Downey would join Berry and the Russos on set for this. Here are the full draft results. I’ve got to say, I think Berry’s got the best team here, with Joe Russo a close second thanks to the steal of the draft with Captain Marvel at pick number three. (Which, Berry hypothesized, is because this was shot even before Avengers: Infinity War came out, so most of them hadn’t seen her full potential yet.) Also, again, it’s never mentioned what exactly these hypothetical teams are actually for—it’s just for fun, so it doesn’t really matter.

Round 1

1. Downey – Drax

2. Anthony Russo – Iron Man

3. Joe Russo – Captain Marvel

4. Berry – Hulk

Round 2

5. Downey – Black Panther

6. Anthony Russo – Peter Quill

7. Joe Russo – Black Widow

8. Berry – Captain America

Round 3

9. Downey – Loki

10. Anthony Russo – Thor

11. Joe Russo – Gamora

12. Berry – Doctor Strange