Netflix secures an Iron Man and Batman team-up for new serial killer comedy

Netflix has acquired an upcoming project by Adam McKay, as the streaming giant has partnered with the director for the star-studded film Average Height, Average Build. According to Deadline, McKay landed on Netflix as a distributor after shopping the film around throughout much of 2022. The film, produced by McKay from his own script, will feature a cast so starry it warrants its own constellation, with Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jnr. and The Batman’s Robert Pattinson leading the ensemble. 

Per Variety, Average Height, Average Build will follow Pattinson as a serial killer who enlists a lobbyist and leverages American politics as a means of simplifying his murders. Alongside Pattinson and Downey, the cast of the black comedy satire will also include Amy Adams, Forest Whitaker and Danielle Deadwyler. Reports around the film first emerged in March, with Downey tipped to play a retired cop investigating Pattinson’s killing spree. 

The film, which has yet to receive a release date, will mark McKay’s second union with Netflix, following his 2021 smash hit Don’t Look Up. That film — starring an equally dazzling ensemble led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence — went on to become Netflix’s second most-watched original title — following closely behind Red Notice — and skyrocketed to the streamer’s number one spot in 92 countries. 

Given the success of that film — which scored four Academy Award nominations including for Best Picture — it seems Average Height, Average Build has all the trappings of an Oscar frontrunner. The upcoming movie will add to the already stacked catalogue of producer-director McKay, whose list of credits includes, but is not limited to, Succession, Vice, The Big Short, Dead To Me, and the Anchorman franchise. 

For their part, both Downey and Pattinson are gearing up for equally buzzy upcoming releases, with the Caped Crusader himself set to appear in Bong Joon-ho’s much-anticipated sci-fi adaptation Mickey 17, as well as reprise his role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman sequel. Downey, meanwhile, worked with Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, the Cillian Murphy-led film set to premiere in July. Production on Average Height, Average Build is expected to start in late summer or early fall, according to Deadline.