Robert Downey Jr. acknowledges that his Iron Man role is losing its lustre: "It wore off"

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Robert Downey Jr., actor of Iron Man, talks about how the amazing sensation of being Marvel’s top superhero for a long time has now worn off. During his eleven-year tenure as Iron Man, Downey talked about how amazing it was to be linked with the role, but that connection to Tony Stark has now diminished in an interview at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I’ll never be as cool as Tony Stark, but for a moment, it was nice to be connected with someone like that, said Downey, until the effect wore off. The actor was awarded the Maltin Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2024. Cilian Murphy, another cast member from Oppenheimer, gave Downey the coveted trophy. Denzel Washington, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, and Cate Blanchett are among the previous winners of the honour. As the front-runners for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the forthcoming 96th Academy Awards, Downey and Murphy’s awards season success is far from done.

Iron Man (2008) marked the start of Downey’s eleven-year run as Iron Man/Tony Stark, which came to a conclusion with the character’s passing in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Christopher Nolan, the director of Oppenheimer, talked on how choosing Downey as Iron Man was one of the most significant choices ever made in film history. “I’ve always wanted to work with him,” Nolan said. That has always been evident in his work. He is equally charismatic as Tony Stark. One of the most important casting choices in the history of the film industry was his choice to play Iron Man. I wished to provide him the chance to immerse himself in a role, in another person, the way that great performers adore him.” The actor’s admission casts doubt on whether he will play Iron Man in a future Marvel Cinematic Universe film. But according to a prior story that came out last year, Marvel Studios was thinking about bringing back every member of the original Avengers for a different movie. That included Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. Tony Stark’s potential comeback may take the form of an AI directing Riri Williams in Armour Wars or Ironheart. In Avengers: Secret Wars, the character could appear in a multiverse version. Additionally, Tom Cruise may play the Superior Iron Man version for which he was previously mentioned in rumours.