Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection
Robert Downey Jr.’s era as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially come to an end, with Kevin Feige stating that the character will not be making a return.
“We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” Feige told Vanity Fair in the Downey Jr. profile. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
Downey Jr. last portrayed the character in 2019’s The Avengers: Endgame, where the superhero meets his demise. Fans of the MCU holding out hope for Tony Stark’s resurrection can now put that to rest.
Director Joe Russo further emphasized, “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.”
Co-director Anthony Russo revealed the emotional significance for Downey Jr., stating that for him, it was a “difficult thing” to say his last line as the superhero.
“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 said.
Despite being the center of the MCU, Feige revealed that casting Downey Jr. in the role of Iron Man was not a straightforward decision and required convincing the Marvel board due to the actor’s past legal troubles.
“It purely came down to the Marvel board being nervous at putting all of their chips in their future films on somebody who famously had those legal troubles in the past,” Feige said. “I wasn’t very good — and I’m still not great — at taking no for an answer.”
But after a screen test, Downey Jr. ultimately secured the role of Tony Stark and went on to play the Marvel hero in 10 films of the MCU.
