Robert Downey Jr. is set to make his fourth – or fifth, if you’re counting his cameo in The Incredible Hulk – appearance as Marvel’s Armored Avenger next week when Iron Man 3 arrives in UK cinemas, and after the blockbuster success of his previous outings in Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, it’s all but assured that this latest sequel is going to be one of the biggest hits of the year. We already know that Tony Stark will be back on the screen again in 2015 as part of Joss Whedon’s The Avengers 2, and assuming both of these don’t bomb – of which there’s 0% chance – we can expect to see Ol’ Shellhead headlining another solo movie in the not too distant future. However, with his contract with Marvel now up, will it be RDJ under the armor, or might we be seeing a new incarnation of the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist? Judging by recent comments from the actor, it looks like he could be giving serious consideration to hanging up his Iron Man armor:
“It got me thinking about how big the message from your cosmic sponsor needs to be before you pick it up,” said Downey Jr. in an interview with GQ, referring to the ankle injury he suffered during an on-set stunt on Iron Man 3. “How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun? I come from a family of very innovative writers and directors and actors and artists, and the circle of friends they were in were the people I heard having pun-offs playing poker at two in the morning, and it was just the most comforting aspect of my childhood. So there’s this kind of legacy of souls from what I consider to be a very particular time in entertainment, and I’m sensing a return to that.”
He went on to highlight the fact that he’ll hit the big 5-0 in three years time, before responding to a question about whether 50 would mark the end of his on-screen superheroics: “I don’t know. I don’t know. Right now I don’t have a contract to do anything, and I did for the last five years. Here’s the thing. At whatever point I’m done with this, I’m going to have a bit of a crisis, because I probably haven’t even fully ingested how much I’ve enjoyed it, how much it’s meant. It so came out of kind of relative obscurity as this second-tier character from the Marvel universe, and I feel I was part of making it something more. But it also to me was just good filmmaking.”
While it would seem a no brainer that Marvel Studios will offer Downey Jr. an offer he can’t refuse to return as Iron Man for The Avengers 2 (especially as he’s confirmed the rumoured $50 million payday for The Avengers), if they are going to bring in a new face – which sadly they’ll have to sooner or later – then the upcoming ensemble is probably the best time to do so. Introducing a new Tony Stark in the inevitable Iron Man 4 would certainly be a risky proposition, whereas with The Avengers 2 there’d be the likes of Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) all presumably still there to soften the blow – not to mention a couple of new characters. But hopefully we’ll see him sticking around for a couple of years yet…
Originally published April 16, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
