The Marvel Star That Robert Downey Jr. Wanted to Do All of His Movies With
Robert Downey Jr. has worked with plenty of actors both within and outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But there was one actor he got to know so well that he couldn’t imagine ever working without.
Robert Downey Jr. and this Marvel star never crossed paths in the superhero franchise
It seems one of Downey’s favorite acting experiences was alongside a fellow Marvel actor who he never interacted with. In 2014, Downey starred in the drama The Judge, where he played an attorney who defends his father after a brutal crime. The movie saw him work alongside Vincent D’Onofrio for the first time, who’d go on to play Kingpin in Daredevil. Downey credited the casting in The Judge for bringing him and D’Onofrio together, especially with how much Downey admired his co-star.
“I guess there’s part of that, but I’m sure you know this as well as anyone, the casting process is the most ludicrous thing where the DNA comes together,” Downey once told Deadline. “You think of a person to play a role, someone else becomes available, or somebody surprises you. I always think that rather than back into an idea because you are thinking about who you want to work with, you’re better off telling cool stories and then watch casting fall into place. But I will tell you officially that as of now, I would rather not do a movie without Vincent D’Onofrio, ever again.”
Downey further asserted that he admired D’Onofrio far too much to only work with him once.
“He literally is like the big brother I never had, and he is just so talented,” he said. “He is nothing like his character, Glen. There is not a moment of Vincent D’Onofrio in that character. There are aspects of him in it but he is a masterful guy. So honestly almost every project that I think about moving forward I think, what’s Vince going to do in it?”
Vincent D’Onofrio felt Robert Downey Jr. showed these Marvel movies can work
D’Onofrio felt Downey’s casting as Iron Man benefitted the Marvel universe in more ways than one. It not only jumpstarted the superhero franchise, but showed the kind of performances real actors could do in those roles on a mainstream scale. In a resurfaced interview with Screencrush (via MTR Network), D’Onofrio reflected on just how inspired he was by Downey’s Iron Man performance.
“The thing about Marvel is that they’re not – they’re into real acting. They’re looking for artists that are willing to take chances and are willing to create characters, even if that character has been around for years and years in comic books, they still are depending on us to create something and take it somewhere else,” D’Onofrio said. “Robert Downey [Jr.] is the perfect example of that. Who knew that Iron Man was going to be who Robert made him?”
D’Onfrio believed that he and other actors were already benefitting from the groundwork Downey laid with these superhero properties.
“I would have never guessed Iron Man was going to be that kind of Tony Stark. Not in a million years, and, you know, that’s because of Jon and especially Robert. So, everybody is following suit with that. Personally, I felt Downey kind of led the way in that, and he’s kind of said to the studios and to the public, ‘It can work. These Marvel things can work,’” he added.
Ironically, D’Onofrio would mean as much to Kingpin, as Downey meant to Iron Man for some fans. According to The Direct, Daredevil showrunner Steven DeKnight told fans that he wouldn’t ever think about recasting Kingpin.
“Recasting Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk would be like trying to recast Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark or Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. Impossible,” DeKnight said.
