Despite the big names and talented actors who have donned a Marvel superhero costume on the silver screen through the years, there really is only one man/character who could be considered the “face” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And that’s supremely talented actor Robert Downey Jr.
The 59-year-old actor portrayed Tony Stark/Iron Man in the MCU, and his impact on the franchise can’t be understated.
Downey’s acting credits may include literary legends like Dr. Dolittle, Sherlock Holmes, as well as real-life figures like Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” but his turn as Iron Man is probably what has reverberated most with moviegoers.
And that’s because, by most accounts, Downey’s take on Iron Man is what began the entire MCU.
Due to Downey being a bit of damaged goods as an actor at the time, due to his litany of personal demons, and the fact that Iron Man pre-2008 was a rather B-tier Marvel character, there was no guarantee that 2008’s “Iron Man” would be any sort of a smash hit.
Thanks in no small part to Downey’s charisma and take on Stark — a gregarious billionaire who fights crime and saves the world while wearing an advanced suit — “Iron Man” was the sort of hit that justified the countless other projects that would eventually lay the foundation of the golden age of the MCU.
Spoiler alerts for 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” follow: Downey would helm two more lone “Iron Man” films, as well as appear in a number of other Marvel films to varying degrees of importance, before the role would crescendo with “Endgame.” In that film, Stark effectively sacrifices his own life to defeat the major villain Thanos with some semblance of finality.
It has been, for now, Downey’s last true appearance in the MCU.
Do you want to see Robert Downey Jr. return as Tony Stark/Iron Man?
(In news that is perhaps related, Marvel and Disney have genuinely struggled to capture lightning in a bottle again after “Endgame.”)
Five years after the fact, however, it appears that the aforementioned finality may not be that final.
In an interview with Esquire magazine, Downey outright said that he would “happily” return to the MCU despite the proper sendoff Stark had received in 2019 (and in the subsequent MCU films that explored the fallout of Stark’s abrupt death).
“Happily. It’s too integral a part of my DNA,” Downey said when asked if he would return to the MCU now that he’s won an Academy Award for his role in “Oppenheimer.”
Downey added: “That role chose me.”
But Downey’s most curious comments came in an impassioned defense of the beleaguered Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.
“And look, I always say, Never, ever bet against Kevin Feige,” Downey said. “It is a losing bet. He’s the house. He will always win.”
For the record, Feige’s losses far outnumber his scant wins (“Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”) since 2019.
