Robert Downey Jr. first played Tony Stark in 2008's Iron Man, and his 11-year journey reached its end with Avengers: Endgame in 2019. With projects like Ironheart and Armor Wars confirmed for Disney+, fans remain hopeful that the actor will return, but the actor has again dismissed the possibility.
"Playing Tony/Iron Man was hard and I dug deep," Downey tells the Hindustan Times in a new interview. "I had an incredible 10-year run that was creatively satisfying."
"I’ve done all I could with that character and can do other things now. Now, being middle-aged, you start looking at the back nine and realize this is all part of the journey, and things end. I am fortunate and eternally grateful to have wound up where I have. I had an incredible 10-year run with Marvel which pushed me creatively. I now have tons more ambition to do things I haven't done before."
Downey has had mixed fortunes since leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Dolittle a noteworthy flop for an actor who was a huge draw while playing Iron Man for Marvel Studios.
It's possible the actor could reprise his role in one of the upcoming Disney+ TV shows, though that runs the risk of tarnishing his legacy as Iron Man. It will boil down to how any sort of future cameo is handled, and whether it's something Downey finds, as he says, "creative satisfying."
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