Robert Downey Jr. a small appearance as Iron Man's alter ego Tony Stark in the 2008 film "The Incredible Hulk", as a part of Marvel Studios' depicting the same Marvel Universe on film by providing continuity among the movies. After "Iron Man", Downey appeared alongside Ben Stiller and Jack Black in the Stiller-directed "Tropic Thunder". The three actors play a Hollywood archetype—with Downey playing self-absorbed multi-Oscar-winning Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus—as they star in an extremely expensive Vietnam-era film called "Tropic Thunder". Lazarus undergoes a "controversial skin pigmentation procedure" in order to take on the role of African-American platoon sergeant Lincoln Osiris, which
Robert Downey Jr. staff, and asked if he could produce or assist in an episode creation, as his son Indio is a fan of the show. The producers of the show accepted the offer and created the character of Patrick Pewterschmidt, Lois Griffin's long lost, mentally disturbed brother, for Downey. Downey signed on with publishers HarperCollins to write a memoir, which in 2006, was already being billed as a "candid look at the highs and lows of his life and career". In 2008, however, Downey returned his advance to the publishers, and canceled the book without further comment. In 2007, Downey appeared in