Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. figures to be a serious contender this awards season thanks to his supporting role in director Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller, Oppenheimer.
For his turn as Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss. Downey figures to secure a nomination at the Oscars for this role after winning Best Supporting Actor at this year's Golden Globe Awards.
However, while appearing on the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast, Downey took some time out to reflect on his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The conversation shifted from Oppenheimer to the MCU when RDJ's phone rang in the middle of the podcast's recording. Lowe joked that it was Marvel, calling to offer an absurd amount of money to get Downey to return.
Intriguingly enough, RDJ replied to Lowe's jest by stating, "Not just yet."
Lowe went on to add, "You know what I say. That phone is going to ring, baby, and I want to be on that call. I want to be negotiating for you. I know what your deal is. Here’s what you do. You go, ‘I’ll come back and I’ll play Tony Stark for you guys again since you [frick]ed everything up. But I want a gazillion dollars. I know what that number should be, and I want first dollar gross of every ensuing movie. That’s what I would do."
"That sounds quite hostile," Downey replied while laughing.
However, the Tony Stark actor quickly steered the conversation to his past MCU work, not a potential return.
"I felt so exposed after being in the cocoon of Marvel, where I think I did some of the best work I will ever do, but it went a little bit unnoticed because of the genre," said Downey.
He went on to say that he thinks his Avengers: Endgame exit may be a blessing in disguise.
"In a way, I did myself a favor, because the rug was pulled so definitively out from underneath me and all the things that I was leaning on as opposed to what my understanding of confidence and security was, boy did they evaporate. And it rendered me teachable. And the crazy thing is they say, ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will come,’ and that’s what happened.”
That last part of Downey's statement is in reference to 2020's Dolittle which bombed with critics and at the box office. That lesson reminded Downey that unlike his MCU films, his appearance in a movie doesn't guarantee success.
That lesson made him more careful of the projects he selected and ultimately influenced his decision to sign up for Oppenheimer.