There are just certain sentences you never think you’ll ever have to write. Such as—apparently, Howard Stern is attached to an unannounced “Doctor Doom” project at Marvel. Yes, you read that right.
Thanks to some avid listeners of Howard Stern’s daily radio show on SiriusXM, it appears that the host of the show had a bit of a “hot mic” issue today when he left his mic on and started to blab about being attached to project with Marvel. Now, the moment is preserved on Twitter for everyone to hear.
“They’re going over the schedule with me, and it’s going to suck,” said Stern. “I told you, I’m going to do ‘Doctor Doom.’ That’s the thing. But believe me, I’m fucking miserable about it…I called Robert Downey, Jr. and I was asking him acting techniques.”
As the Twitter clip ends, you can hear Stern end by asking, “Do you have a number for Jon…?” This, of course, might lead to the conclusion that he’s asking about Jon Favreau, who has plenty of history working with Marvel Studios and Disney.
So, what do we do with this information? Well, first off, it’s interesting that Stern said that he’s “going to do ‘Doctor Doom’” and not playing Doctor Doom. This leads me to believe that he’s part of a “Doctor Doom” project and not necessarily acting as the Marvel villain in another project, such as the upcoming “Fantastic Four” live-action film. Even if he didn’t say that, the odds of him playing such a high-profile villain in one of the biggest projects Marvel Studios is currently working on is ridiculous to think about.
READ MORE: ‘Fantastic Four’ Loses Its Director As ‘Spider-Man’ Filmmaker Jon Watts Exits Project
With that in mind, it would appear that Marvel is working on some sort of “Doctor Doom” project. Perhaps the character is appearing in a future episode of “What If?” That would be somewhat shocking, considering Season 2 of the animated series is likely going to debut before the Fantastic Four get their own movie. The only other thing would be the idea that maybe, just maybe Marvel Studios is thinking about reviving that whole “Doctor Doom” TV series that Noah Hawley was working on for Fox years ago? Hawley was really excited about doing it, but it seems to have been lost in the shuffle after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox a few years back. We know Marvel and Disney are really excited about putting new content on Disney+ and a “Doctor Doom” series could fit the bill, with Stern having a supporting role.
Speculation aside, it does appear that this was an honest mistake with Stern unaware that his mic was on and talking openly about the project. So, even if Stern’s role is eliminated due to his apparent displeasure with the scheduling, it would appear that Marvel Studios definitely has something up its sleeve. And wouldn’t you know it? San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner!
You can hear the hot mic moment below: