Downey Jr. and Evans had a Marvel reunion while presenting the award for Best Original Screenplay to ‘Black Panther’ director Ryan Coogler for his latest, ‘Sinners.‘

Robert Downey Jr. gifts Chris Evans *Magic Mike star *Channing Tatum’s sequined thong at Oscars: ‘Gonna need that back’

Downey Jr. and Evans had a Marvel reunion while presenting the award for Best Original Screenplay to 'Black Panther' director Ryan Coogler for his latest, 'Sinners.'

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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March 15, 2026 10:01 p.m. ET

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The 2026 Oscars took a racy turn during the presentation for the night's screenplay awards.

Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. brought Marvel back to Dolby Theatre stage when they joined forces as presenters. Before the duo first called out called out Paul Thomas Anderson as the winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for *One Battle After Another*, Evans hammered Downey Jr. for not getting him a proper gift for the 14th anniversary of their first *Avengers *collaboration. Evans got him a copy of the screenplay signed by the entire cast and crew — and all Downey Jr. could get him in return was a crumpled valet parking ticket he immediately took back?

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans speak onstage during the 98th Oscars on March 15 in Hollywood.

Kevin Winter/Getty

After Anderson vacated the stage, Evans was left alone at the podium and called out, "No Downey?"

Midway into his intro to the Original Screenplay nominees, Downey Jr. raced back onstage, telling Evans, "I was just joshing! Of course I got you something."

What he pulled from his pocket drew a round of shocked laughter, and involved an A-lister looking on from the audience.

"I got you the official Tanning Chatum thong from *Magic Mike*. Sequined, it's got like a mirrorball effect. Light usage," Downey Jr. joked, unfurling a giant, pink and sparkling pair of underwear from his suit pocket.

Channing Tatum presents at the 2026 Oscars on March 15 in Hollywood.

Frank Micelotta/Disney via Getty

"I have no words," Evans dryly replied.

Tatum shouted from the audience, "Hey, I'm gonna need that back though!"

An incredulous Downey Jr. questioned, "For *what?*"

"I've gotta work later, what are you talking about," Tatum sheepishly explained, before Downey Jr. carried on with listing the nominees.

Downey Jr. and Evans then presented the Best Original Screenplay award to Ryan Coogler for record-breaking *Sinners*, marking the filmmaker's fifth nomination and first win. The category boasted a stacked list of nominees that also included Jafar Panahi for the Cannes-winning *It Was Just an Accident*, and Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie for the latter's Timothée Chalamet epic *Marty Supreme*.

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"Please sit down, because I'm very nervous and they're going to play me off," Coogler joked after taking the stage. "I grew up in Oakland and Richmond, Calif., and we can talk a lot."

Coogler thanked his fellow nominees, everyone involved in making the period horror, his parents and wife, Zinzi Evans, and their three children: "To my babies that are at home watching, I apologize for all the time away. Dad loves you, memories are all we have, I hope I give you some great ones."

The Best Original Screenplay category has long been one where history is made.

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In 2022, legendary British actor, director, and dramaturge Kenneth Branagh broke his long streak of nominations without a win in the Original Screenplay category. His script for the semi-autobiographical *Belfast *finally won him a little gold man, after seven nominations going back to his first, for *Henry V* in 1989.

In 2018, Jordan Peele became the first Black screenwriter to win the award for his seminal social horror film *Get Out*. That's after over 80 ceremonies without a Black winner.

"I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible, I thought it wasn’t gonna work, I thought no one would ever make this movie," Peele said during his acceptance speech, "but I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie people would hear it and people would see it."

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