'Dolittle' Trailer: Robert Downey Jr. Returns With His First Post-MCU Film Based On A Beloved Tale

In the new trailer for “Dolittle,” we get to glimpse yet again the wondrous dimension of Dr. Dolittle, the fantastic veterinarian who aids his animal comrades primarily through the fact that he can speak with them. The doctor has a connection with creatures, and more than that, he’s got a British accent.

You remember Robert Downey, Jr. as the sassy, lovable, narcissistic Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, kicking off his post-MCU career, we see Downey returning to the big screen along with the accent that made him great as Sherlock Holmes. Downey takes his stellar abilities and struts into the britches of a doctor who is not all that he seems.

Dolittle seems to be following in the same sort of line as films like “The Jungle Book,” “Narnia,” and “Zookeeper”— all of which display this intriguing element of animals talking to people and vice versa. The concept of the story is also not original, hailing from the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting.

Downey’s “Dolittle” follows several previous film adaptations of this beloved character. In 1967, “Doctor Dolittle” hit movie theatres in the form of a grand two-and-a-half-hour musical starring Rex Harrison in the title role. Several decades down the road, in 1998, audiences were introduced to comedian Eddie Murphy‘s take on the good doctor. Knowing Robert Downey, Jr., the upcoming “Dolittle” feature is likely to provide a concoction of the heart and depth present in the 1967 adaptation and the lighthearted comedy we see in the 1998 rendition.

The “Dolittle” cast includes a host of Hollywood’s biggest stars such as Tom Holland, Antonio Banderas, Selena Gomez, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, and others.

“Dolittle” is set to be released on January 17.

Here’s the synopsis:

After losing his wife seven years earlier, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle (Downey), famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria’s England, hermits himself away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company. But when the young queen (Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose) falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and discovers wondrous creatures.

The doctor is joined on his quest by a young, self-appointed apprentice (Dunkirk’s Harry Collett) and a raucous coterie of animal friends, including an anxious gorilla (Oscar® winner Rami Malek), an enthusiastic but bird-brained duck (Oscar® winner Octavia Spencer), a bickering duo of a cynical ostrich (The Big Sick’s Kumail Nanjiani) and an upbeat polar bear (John Cena, Bumblebee) and a headstrong parrot (Oscar® winner Emma Thompson), who serves as Dolittle’s most trusted advisor and confidante.