14 DAY TRIAL // A famous saying goes something like, “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Either Robert Downey Jr. hasn’t heard of it or he’s looking forward to moving on from the superhero stage in his career, because it seems his very successful collaboration with Marvel is coming to an end.
There will be no “Iron Man 4” with him wearing the armor suit and breathing life into the charismatic Tony Stark on the big screen, the star tells Variety in a new interview promoting the film “The Judge.” You can see the rest of the interview in the video below, in case you want to know more about the movie.
“There isn’t one in the pipe. No, there’s no plan for a fourth Iron Man,” Downey reveals.
Robert Downey Jr. made the Marvel superhero cinematic universe what it is today
In 2008, Marvel released the first “Iron Man” film, the first installment in what would turn out to be the most successful film franchise of our times. To this day, it is still considered the best superhero film ever, combining in equal measure the best in a comic book-based production and the best in an actual film.
RDJ is credited with much of its success, to the point where many fans can’t even imagine an Iron Man / Tony Stark that would not be played by him. In other words, without him, Marvel would probably be less successful with its superhero universe today.
That’s because RDJ has the talent, the charisma, and the humor to deliver the perfect rendition of the popular character, and the 3 “Iron Man” installments and one “Avengers” installment are proof of that.
Keeping hope alive with fans
Until just now, RDJ played the guessing game with fans whenever asked if he would return to play Stark / Iron Man in another standalone movie. That he’s signed for 2 “Avengers” pics was already well known, so you can expect him back on the silver screen in 2015 with “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and then in 2018 with the threequel.
Whenever members of the media asked him if he was coming back, he would always say something along the lines of “don’t throw a good thing away” if you have it secured, hinting that he wasn’t about to break up with Marvel anytime soon.
Apparently, he’s had a change of heart because he’s not coming back.
He might be awesome, but RDJ too is growing old (and restless)
Part of the reason for his decision might be Downey’s age. It sure isn’t money, because he’s making dollars hand over fist with this Marvel contract, so he’d be a fool if he just ended such a successful collaboration.
Downey is 49 years old right now: he’s far from old but he’s definitely not in his prime anymore, which would mean he’d be able to carry a physically demanding role without a problem. The bad part about doing such a multi-picture deal is that it sucks you dry, which, for an actor looking to do other work as well, could be unbearable.
So, on the one hand, RDJ is growing old and he might not be able – physically – to do the role as he’d like, or used to in 2009. On the other, he probably wants to do other films as well, and his deal with Marvel is making that very difficult for him.
Whichever the reason, one thing is clear: when Robert Downey Jr. leaves, Marvel is going to go through hell to find someone to fill his shoes.
