Robert Downey Jr. discussed possibly returning to Marvel after Tony Stark’s ending in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in a recent talk with Esquire Magazine. He shared:
“Happily. It’s too integral a part of my DNA. That role chose me. And look, I always say, ‘Never, ever bet against Kevin Feige.’ It is a losing bet. He’s the house. He will always win.”
No Plans To Bring Him Back
Downey’s superhero gig in 2008’s ‘Iron Man’ started the MCU. Iron Man sacrificed his life to defeat Thanos and save the universe at the end of the Infinity Saga.
Kevin Feige told Vanity Fair in December that they had no plan to bring the actor back to the franchise and explained:
“We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
Downey As Tony Stark Impressed Christopher Nolan
Robert Downey Jr. recently won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer.’ The actor paid tribute to the director and his co-stars in his acceptance speech.
Nolan also commented on working with Downey in a February chat on The Late Show:
“I’ve always wanted to work with him. I’ve always seen that in his work. And he has such charisma as Tony Stark. Him playing Iron Man is one of the most consequential casting decisions that’s ever been made in the history of the movie business. I wanted to give him the opportunity to lose himself in a part, lose himself in another human being the way great actors love him.”
Marvel’s Been Slumping Lately
Meanwhile, Marvel’s box office performance was on a downturn since key characters like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff exited the superhero lineup.
2023’s ‘The Marvels’ saw the lowest opening for an MCU film with just $46 million. ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’ also performed poorly at the box office by earning $476 million against a $276 million budget.
The upcoming ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is expected to perform better. The film will hit the screens on July 16, 2024.
