Actor Robert Downey, Jr says that he’s considering retiring from the role of Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
Downey says that an on-set injury while filming the third installment in the Iron Man film series served as a wake-up call that maybe his time in the suit is coming to an end.
“It got me thinking about how big the message from your cosmic sponsor needs to be before you pick it up,” he tells GQ in a new cover profile. “How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun?”
He reasons that, “I come from a family of very innovative writers and directors and actors and artists, and the circle of friends they were in were the people I heard having pun-offs playing poker at two in the morning, and it was just the most comforting aspect of my childhood. So there’s this kind of legacy of souls from what I consider to be a very particular time in entertainment, and I’m sensing a return to that.”
As much as it saddens me to think of Robert Downey Jr. leaving the role, the simple fact is that he’s getting on in years. That’s not to say that he’s old, but he is aging and the body just doesn’t respond to such strenuous activities that Iron Man would bring.
Tony Stark may be ageless in the comic book, but Robert Downey Jr. is not and he needs to think about his health for the sake of his family.
I only hope that if someone else is cast in the part that they PLEASE DO NOT REBOOT the series!!! Keep it going forward without a reboot and just have someone else playing the part of Tony Stark/Iron Man!
Iron Man would be America’s James Bond then
As would be any new actor/actress assuming an established part because his/her predecessor is stepping down. With all of the characters involved it would be a nightmare to reboot any one superhero in the franchise. It would put that new hero outside of the established canon for the film series.
The James Bond model is clearly the way to go!