Mark Wahlberg Once Revealed He Wanted to Take Over for Robert Downey Jr. As ‘Iron Man’
Mark Wahlberg has been the go-to actor for many action films. However, when it comes to superhero movies, the actor seems to have avoided the genre. But he once quipped if there’s one superhero he’d be interested in playing, it’s Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man.
Mark Wahlberg would only do superhero movies on one condition
Wahlberg has played action heroes who already seem a little superpowered in one way or another. From his roles in Transformers, to thrillers like Shooter, he’s no stranger to roles that require him to save the world. But so far, he just hasn’t done so wearing a cape and costume. In an interview with Cinepop, the Boogie Nights star once explained there’s a reason for that.
“I like them enough, I’m not one of those purists who is like ‘Oh this is not cinema.’ I think the audiences decide and obviously, they [superhero movies] have been wildly successful. It’s just that for me, personally, as an actor, I would have a really hard time walking out of my trailer with a cape on, and a spandex suit,” he revealed.
However, there’s one superhero role that Wahlberg wouldn’t be aversed to playing.
“I was working really hard to bring The Six Billion-Dollar Man to the screen, which is based on a TV series. And it was based on a lot of wish-fulfillment and what this character could do, based on what they did to him,” he said. “But it was grounded in reality and you felt like it would be much more believable as being realistic, to me, to be able to play that part, and feel like ‘I could do this,’ in a way that didn’t feel silly. But you never know: maybe the right part will come along! We’ll see.”
Mark Wahlberg once revealed he wanted to play ‘Iron Man’ after Robert Downey Jr.
Aside from The Six Billion-Dollar Man, there was another superhero he wanted to play that had a similar powerset. In an interview with Yahoo, Wahlberg revealed that he would’ve been interested in playing Iron Man in a potential sequel.
“I would like to take over the Iron Man franchise for Robert Downey,” Wahlberg said.“It’s one of those things where I kind of like playing real people, [so] I’ve never been asked.”
Wahlberg then shared that for a brief period earlier in his career he was being discussed for another superhero franchise.
“Once I was kind of being talked about for the Robin role in Batman [Forever],” he continued. “Somebody dodged a bullet!”
According to Comic Book Resources, it was rumored that Mark Wahlberg was looked at for the character of Green Lantern for the DCEU. However, neither Wahlberg nor Warner Bros. have ever addressed these claims.
Mark Wahlberg would be interested in playing a villain
Mark Wahlberg hasn’t entirely ruled out playing a superhero. But the Uncharted actor wouldn’t mind getting his hands dirty as a villain instead.
“I’m always trying to mix it up and do something different. But I do love and embrace playing villain characters,” Wahlberg told ET Canada. “I haven’t gotten to do that too many times.”
