During a recent appearance on the latest On With Kara Swisher podcast, Robert Downey Jr. responded to Elon Musk ‘acting like real-life Tony Stark.’
“This idea of ‘It’s all OK because we’ve gotta get to Mars’ doesn’t really hold water with me,” the actor said, referring to Musk’s ambitions to explore space.
Downey Jr. continued, “You have to look at all that [Musk has] done that demonstrates why he’s valuable. Nowadays separating the individual from their behavior is a tough thing to do because hell is other people — and that has been hijacked in this information age, to divide us rather than allow for discourse, debate, and dialogue.”
The similarities between the Tesla founder and the comic book character became more noticeable when Iron Man director Jon Favreau revealed in 2016 that Musk inspired some parts of the Tony Stark character.
Screenwriter Mark Fergus also said that Stark’s character was influenced by a mix of Musk, Donald Trump, and Steve Jobs in a 2022 New York Magazine interview.
Fergus said, “[Musk], Trump, and maybe a little Steve Jobs. Trump was fun before he became president — he was actually kind of a goofy celebrity. Steve Jobs was always serious and angry; he never quite had that gift of the bullshit, the working the crowd that Musk has a real natural talent for.”
“Musk took the brilliance of Jobs with the showmanship of Trump,” he added. “He was the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance. I’m not sure we talked about too many other people; there are not many people like that around.”
Fergus also noted, “It’s dangerous to be a celebrity businessman. One scandal and it’s billions of dollars. People want their CEOs to shut up and be good, quiet figures who aren’t in the paper dating celebrities. Because sh*t can happen.”
In July, it was announced that Downey Jr. will return to the Avengers universe in two new movies, but he won’t be playing Iron Man. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed this during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con.
The actor will portray the supervillain Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom, in the 5th and 6th Avengers films, titled ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars.’
