Sam Esmail’s cult TV show has an ardent fan in Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. When asked about his favorite thing to watch on TV, Downey Jr. shared that Mr. Robot was one of the best things airing in 2016. Starring Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek and Christian Slater, the series explores the story of a hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and dissociative identity disorder.
While the cult show along with a couple of other suggestions made it into Downey Jr.’s list of favorites, he did not name any of the Marvel shows. Interestingly, Marvel aired a bunch of animated shows and the non-canonical Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D & Agent Carter until the time when The Avengers actor recommended the list.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Favorite Thing to Watch Is Rami Malek’s Cult TV Show
Rami Malek‘s Mr. Robot skillfully blended the techno-thriller subgenre into drama. The series follows Malek’s Elliot Alderson as he is roped into a group of hacktivists known as the “fsociety” by Christian Slater‘s Mr. Robot. The series ran for five seasons, with Sam Esmail serving as the creator, showrunner, and director.
Malek and Slater’s performance received critical acclaim, along with its story, presentation, and musical score. Over the years, the series acquired a cult following. A single season of the series was enough for Robert Downey Jr. to call it one of the best things he had seen on television. During an interview with GQ Style in 2016, the Oppenheimer actor had this to say about the series:
I am frothing at the thumb controls for the second season of Mr. Robot, which is probably the best thing that’s been on TV or theater for five years.
His praise for the series didn’t end there. When asked about his favorite actor in the industry, Downey Jr. named Malek. He shared that the Bohemian Rhapsody actor was “the one” at that time and went on to say that other actors should learn from him. The Sherlock Holmes actor shared:
Rami Malek. He’s the one right now. Everybody else should be studying this guy.
Downey Jr. also talked about other TV shows that intrigued him. This included FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson and Netflix’s House of Cards. He also added that he was a fan of shows based on military history and used to watch the Military History Channel.
Robert Downey Jr. May Not Have This Marvel Show On His Watchlist, But One Actor Declares It MCU Canon
Robert Downey Jr. did not mention any of the Marvel shows of the time, including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter. Fans of Joss Whedon‘s show were elated when Ryan Reynolds recently mentioned the series in a promotional event for Deadpool & Wolverine.
Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson from The Avengers led the show, which had the agents fight against terrorists and extraterrestrial threats. While the MCU has yet to announce the show as a canon, Reynolds mentioned to Jackman in a Vanity Fair interview that the show was canon. In his defense, the show did make larger MCU references like the Battle of New York, the Avengers, the Sokovia Accords, etc.
Mr. Robot is now available for streaming on Prime Video, while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is now available on Disney+.
