"Civil War" Director: If Downey Jr. Goes Away, Iron Man "Might Disappear for A While"

[CBR News]

Discussing the possibility of recasting Iron Man, director Joe Russo was doubtful, saying the character might go away instead.


Full article here.

[Galerion]

That shouldn't be surprising. It's after all really an interesting question to ask if Iron Man/Tony Stark really got more popular or if it was just Robert Downey Jr?
It will be interesting to see how Iron Mans popularity with the masses will fare after Downey has stepped away from the role. It will take a few years but it will eventually happen.

[kalorama]

Downey is by no stretch the "biggest movie star in the world."

[Redvector]

Basically the same problem Fox has with Hugh Jackman and Wolverine and Fassbender and JL etc. Marvel has enough characters that could fill that void when RDJ steps away from the MCU. Fox not so much.

[Mjolnir]

Downey is by no stretch the "biggest movie star in the world."

The salary that Marvel Studios/Disney pays him would say otherwise, but I know what you mean. There are by far other bigger stars in the world. Like him or not Tom Cruise is one of those. Brad Pitt another. Johnny Depp is still pretty big outside the U.S.

And it is an interesting question to ask and I can get why Marvel would take the character of Iron Man/Tony Stark off the table for awhile when that eventual day comes when Downey Jr has said he's done. Joe Russo has a point that an entire generation knows Downey Jr as Iron Man. To go one or two movies after Robert's final performance to a new actor would be incredibly jarring and just seem wrong. Personally, I've always felt that way with the Bond actors, but the character will always out last the actor so I do get it. Doctor Who fans deal with it all the time. Heck, Hulk fans knows this too.

While I wouldn't like the character to go away as long as Joe thinks maybe he should be gone, I understand it. But boy talk about a part that soooooo many actors would be lining up to audition for.

Chris Evans I see this happening to eventually. I think he'll re-up with Marvel after Infinity War Part 2. He's much younger and can still make a lot of money off Marvel. Chris' roles outside of Captain America have fared better(?) than Chris Hemsworth who I keep telling my wife needs to fire his agent. He's had a terrible career outside of the Marvel movies. I enjoyed Rush, Black Hat was weird, didn't see Vacation or In the Heart of the Sea. The jury is out on Ghostbusters. Hemsworth will re-up.

When the day comes that Evans is done, Marvel already has two built in plans to solve the Cap question in Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. One or the other could play the role for a while until enough time passes that Marvel feels they could be comfortable with a recast of Steve Rogers and have not be as jarring as it could be.

[Jonas]

That is a great answer by Joe Russo. He completely kisses RDJ's butt and yet at the same time conveys that they could move on without him (and Iron Man) should he demand too much. Smart dude.

[kalorama]

The salary that Marvel Studios/Disney pays him would say otherwise

The money Marvel pays him says he's Marvel's biggest star, but I suspect even that is largely a result of residuals from the Avengers movies, in which he's just one part of an ensemble, as opposed to his actual salary.

[abominfication]

There are so many characters in the Marvel universe that can pick up the ball and run without it through the next phase or two before you need to see Iron Man again, frankly.

No there aren't, there really aren't. Consequences of making Iron Man THE character in the MCU...

[Wandacrystal22]

I said this before, after Phase 3 everything will go down hill from Marvel. By that I mean the audience might not click with New actors if they get replaced. RDJ is engrained in the conscious of the GA it will be impossible to recast. The best course of action is to keep the Big 3 out of movies. Hulk and Spider-man were already a-listers before them so they do whatever they want with them. Also depends if Superhero Fatigue around the time Phase 3 ends.

[DrewHLMW]

If these movies are gonna be continuing for years to come then Marvel has to do legacy characters. RDJ Should come back for Iron Man 4 in phase 4 to face the real Mandarin while in the process passing the mantel onto someone in his comic history or an original character created for the MCU who would help him win in IM4.

[WTNew]

The first Iron Man movie was great. I think it will be regarded as a classic in years to come. The first Avengers movie and Captain America: Winter Soldier were also great.

The rest of the movies that Iron Man has been featured in have been uneven messes, but watchable. They are watchable because of the actors playing the roles. The stories and execution in those movies have ranged from mediocre to terrible and if it wasn't for the performances of Downey Jr., Evans, Johansson, Hemsworth, Huddleston, Jackson, etc. then those movies with their ploddy pacing and overwhelmingly busy action scenes would have been outright awful. And the best of those performers has been Robert Downey Jr.

Someday they will have to recast the roles, but they would not be able to replace Downey Jr. easily, and trying to do so too quickly could crumble the whole MCU cookie. He's just that good.

[Jack Flag]

We can have Rhodes (War Machine) become Iron Man like the comics did in the 80s.

[Jack Flag]

The first Iron Man movie was great. I think it will be regarded as a classic in years to come. The first Avengers movie and Captain America: Winter Soldier were also great.

The rest of the movies that Iron Man has been featured in have been uneven messes, but watchable. They are watchable because of the actors playing the roles. The stories and execution in those movies have ranged from mediocre to terrible and if it wasn't for the performances of Downey Jr., Evans, Johansson, Hemsworth, Huddleston, Jackson, etc. then those movies with their ploddy pacing and overwhelmingly busy action scenes would have been outright awful. And the best of those performers has been Robert Downey Jr.

Someday they will have to recast the roles, but they would not be able to replace Downey Jr. easily, and trying to do so too quickly could crumble the whole MCU cookie. He's just that good.

I can't disagree with anything you said. I giggled like a 7 year old watching the first Avengers and Winter Soldier blew my mind. Having Robert Redford say "Hail Hydra" as he dies and selling the scene just made me freak out. The other movies were just escapist compared to those two movies for me. The first Iron Man was fun to watch, also.

[MarvelMaster616]

It's bound to happen. The X-men movies are facing a similar issue with Hugh Jackman. Downey has become so tied to his role as Iron Man that he's pretty much impossible to replace. So depending on how Infinity Wars shakes out, it might put Marvel/Disney in a real bind. I have a feeling that they'll run with Downey for as long as they can, but the longer they do this, the harder it'll be in the future to keep the momentum for Iron Man movies going.

[Lccf]

That's wise. Once Downey quits, you'll have to wait until you bring a new guy, unless you want him to be scrutinized and torn apart by the audience. Passing the armor to someone else than Tony Stark would be the way if you don't want the MCU without an Iron Man for too long, but I doubt it would work either.
I'd say the same thing about Wolverine and Jackman, but his portrayal has been more criticized than RDJ's, so it's - a tiny bit - a less uphill battle.