Paramount / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Robert Downey Jr. has completed his run as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Kevin Feige says the character will not be returning.
“We will hold onto this moment and not touch it again,” Feige told Vanity Fair in Downey Jr.’s profile. “We have all worked very hard to achieve this for many years and we would never want to magically undo it.”
Downey Jr. last played the role in 2019’s The Avengers: Endgame, when the superhero died. Fans of the MCU hoping that Tony Stark would be resurrected in some form can forget it.
Director Joe Russo added: “We had already said our tearful goodbyes on the last day of filming. Everyone had moved on emotionally. We promised him it would be the last time we would force him to do this – ever.”
Co-director Anthony Russo noted that it was “difficult” for Downey Jr. to say his final line as a superhero.
“When he came back, we shot on a stage right across the street from where he was auditioning for Tony Stark. “So his last line as Tony Stark was literally shot a few hundred feet away from his original audition that got him the part,” Anthony said.
Downey Jr. was the focal point of the MCU, but Feige had to fight to cast the actor in the role of Iron Man.
“It was purely because the Marvel board was nervous about putting all their chips on someone who was known to have had these legal problems in the past in their future films,” Feige said. “I wasn’t very good – and I’m still not good – at taking no for an answer. But I also don’t beat my chest to get my way. I try to find ways to make it as clear as possible to other people why we should go in a certain direction. And that’s when the idea of a screen test came up.”
Downey Jr. eventually landed the role of Tony Stark and played the Marvel hero in ten MCU films.