Based on comments from Kevin Feige, don’t expect Robert Downey Jr. to return to the role of Iron Man for the MCU anytime soon. The last time Robert Downey Junior appeared on the screen as Iron Man was in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame—after he paid the price for saving the Universe from Thanos with his life. The movie was, and still is, to date the most emotional MCU movie of all time given how these fan-favorite characters; Iron Man Tony Stark, Black Widow Natasha Romanoff (played by Scarlet Johnson), Black Panther T’Challa were killed off.
While it can be said that Marvel hasn’t run short on superheroes, Variety once reported that some Marvel executives met to contemplate the replacement of a fast-rising supervillain Kang the Conqueror portrayed by Jonathan Majors. Amid the news of a potential replacement of Kang with another villain Dr. Doom, there were rumors that Marvel plans to resurrect past superheroes like Iron Man and Black Widow.
Kevin Feige Reveals The Fate Of Robert Downey Jr As Iron Man
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Marvel has resurrected a superhero character that was killed off in the past, for example, Superman. Henry Carvil’s Superman character was brought back in Zack Snyder’s Justice League therefore it wouldn’t be surprising if something similar was done with Robert’s Tony Stark.
While the rumors gave hope to Marvel fans that there might be a chance to see Robert put on the Iron Man suit one more time, the President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige revealed in a recent interview with Vanity Fair that there will be no such thing. In his defense, the death of Iron Man had been in the making for years before its successful execution therefore attempting to undo it wouldn’t be an easy fit.
“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.”
— Kevin Feige’s interview with Vanity Fair, December 3 article —
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The Russo brothers who were also present chipped in as one of them, Joe Russo explained that filming the final scene of Tony Stark wasn’t easy for Robert and he took great care to ensure that he didn’t have to redo even a single word from his final words to Pepper Potts.
“We’d already said tearful goodbyes on the last day of shooting. Everybody had moved on emotionally. We promised him it would be the last time we made him do it—ever.”
— Joe Russo’s interview with Vanity Fair, December 3 article —
Anthony Russo also revealed that coincidentally, the stage where Robert filmed his final shooting was directly opposite the stage where he first auditioned for the role of Tony Stark.
“That was a difficult thing for him to do, to come back to pick up that line. When he did come back, we were shooting on a stage directly opposite where he auditioned for Tony Stark. So his last line as Tony Stark was shot literally a couple hundred feet from his original audition that got him the role.”
— Anthony Russo’s interview with Vanity Fair, December 3 article —
How The First Iron Man Movie Was Made
The film Iron Man first hit the theater on May 2, 2008, and it was so incredible that the lead actor Robert Downey who played the role of Tony Stark stole the hearts of everybody. Of course, the rest of the like Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges also did a wonderful job at making the movie everything it is today.
However, one thing Iron Man fans didn’t know before was that the movie was not filmed like every Marvel movie out there. This means that there was no extra effort made to make the movie a hit. In fact, it was not even envisioned to be something that would be widely accepted.
Gwyneth Paltrow who played the role of Pepper Potts shared during a recent conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival that the film was originally pitched to her as an “Indie Film.” She explained that they had to hire Jon Favreau to direct it and also hire Robert whose career as at then was going downhill due to his several legal issues.
“The first film we did was very different from the rest because the studio didn’t think it was going to be a big hit. They hired Jon Favreau to direct who was great. And they hired Robert Downey Jr., who was unhireable at the time. His career was at a very low point. We improvised almost every scene of that movie. We would write scenes in the morning in Jon’s trailer. It was like doing an independent film. Then the movie was such a huge hit that then we didn’t make them like that anymore.”
— Gwyneth Paltrow at the Red Sea Film Festival —
Since it’s been declared by Kevin Feige that Robert Downey Jr. will not be returning to the role of Iron Man, what other superhero would you like to be resurrected? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media. Keep following the Illuminerdi for more Marvel content like this, we’re always watching.
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Source: Vanity Fair, Deadline
