Robert Downey Jr. Once Shared It Would Be Hard to Let Go of Iron Man If the Character Was Re-Cast
Robert Downey Jr. has become synonymous with the Marvel superhero Iron Man to a lot of fans. Downey himself even grew a strong bond with the character.
So if Marvel ever needed to recast him, it was something Downey wouldn’t have let go of without a fight.
Marvel has already somewhat replaced Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man
The Iron Man character has yet to return in the studio’s live-action films. But he has made sporadic appearances in other forms. The Disney+ series What If gives audiences glimpses of alternate versions of the MCU’s heroes, including Tony Stark.
But Downey isn’t the voice actor behind the animated Iron Man. According to IMDb, that credit goes to Mike Wingert, who’s already voiced Iron Man in several animated shows and video games. There have been no conclusive answer as to why Downey didn’t return to voice the character. But in an interview with the Hindustan Times, he made it clear that he was ready to move on from Tony Stark.
“I’ve done all I could with that character and can do other things now. Now, being middle-aged, you start looking at the back nine and realize this is all part of the journey and things end. I am fortunate and eternally grateful to have wound up where I have,” he said.
Robert Downey Jr. once shared he didn’t like the idea of Iron Man being re-cast
Actors are used to being re-cast when it comes to superheroes. Major superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man have had several different actors donning their suits over the years. But at the height of his Iron Man days, Downey didn’t see a re-cast happening. And if Marvel even attempted to do so at at any point, Downey made it clear he’d hold onto the role.
“Let’s just say that the only thing I ever let go of had claw marks in it. There’s a little bit of soul reclamation going on. I feel that the first time I played Tony, I did it best. Sorry,” Downey once said in an interview with Empire (via Yahoo). “The affinity with Tony now is: How do you sustain something? I’m not stupid, I like to play ball, I love the company, I love the character, and the business side of things, I’m not too picky about that either.”
With that said, the Avengers Endgame star felt there might be some benefit to being re-cast as the character. And he was prepared to do so if the audience ever got tired of his portrayal as Iron Man.
“[Recasting] would probably be the best thing in the world for me. You know, ego…but sometimes ego just has to be smashed. Let’s see what happens,” he said. “I take the audience very seriously – I feel bad when I see folks doing movies and the audience is like, ‘Don’t do that anymore.’ I don’t have to overstay my welcome.”
Robert Downey Jr. would only return under a few conditions
Downey has been pretty adamant he’s moving on from the franchise. Still, however, there remains a very small possibility that Downey would put back on the suit. But a specific set of circumstances would have to be met for the actor to return to the role.
“There would have to be a super compelling argument and a series of events that made it obvious. But the other thing is I want to do other stuff,” Downey once told Joe Rogan.
Only time will tell if Marvel would ever be willing to meet those conditions.
