Robert Downey Jr. Won’t Reprise Tony Stark Role, Says Marvel’s Kevin Feige: We Won’t ‘Touch That Moment Again’

Robert Downey Jr.’s chapter as Iron Man remains closed, according to Kevin Feige.

As part of the new vanity fair in the actor’s profile, the president of Marvel Studios provided an update for fans hoping for a Tony Stark resurrection. The character, of course, died in 2019 Avengers: Endgame, and Downey has yet to reprise the role.

“We’re going to keep that moment and we’re not going to touch that moment again,” Feige told reporters when asked if Downey would return to the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“We all worked very hard for many years to get there and we would never want to magically undo it in any way,” Feige added.

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in ‘Avengers: Endgame’.

Courtesy of the Everett Collection

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Game over Director Joe Russo also told the outlet that the film’s cast and crew “tearfully said goodbye on the last day of shooting” on the 2019 film. “Everyone has moved on emotionally,” he said. “We promised [Downey] that would be the last time we got him to do that — ever.”

His brother, co-director Anthony Russo, added that it was “difficult” for Downey to come back and take his final line as Stark.

“When he came back, we were filming on the stage right across from where he auditioned for Tony Stark. So his last line as Tony Stark was filmed literally a few hundred meters from his original audition where he got the part,” Anthony said.

Robert Downey Jr. at the premiere of the film ‘Downey’s Dream Cars’ in Los Angeles.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

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Elsewhere in vanity fair Feige opened up about how Marvel Entertainment executives initially didn’t want Downey cast as Stark in 2008. Iron man.

“It just came down to Marvel’s board of directors being nervous about putting all their chips in their future movies on someone who famously had these legal issues in the past,” Feige said.

“I wasn’t very good – and still am not very good – at taking no for an answer. But I also don’t beat myself up to try to get my way,” he added. “I try to think of 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.”

Things worked out for both Feige and Downey, as the actor ended up taking on the role of Stark in 10 films between 2008 and 2019 — three of which are among the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time.

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Back in May, Iron man director Jon Favreau and Feige celebrated the 15th anniversary of Downey’s first appearance in the iconic suit of armor when they sat down to discuss the film’s legacy. As Favreau explained, the actor almost landed another role in the Marvel universe.

“I remember that you met everyone [Downey] but for Doctor Doom or something on another project,” Favreau, 56, told Feige in an interview posted on YouTube. “I think he may have succeeded Fantastic Fourso everybody kind of knew who he was.”

“I remember sitting with the guy, and I said, ‘He’s got that spark in his eye and he’s ready,'” he added. “Then we were in your office pointing at the picture of his head, saying, ‘We have to try to figure this out.’ That was enough to get us a screen test.”

Favreau added that Downey “understood Stark’s voice,” making his life “easier” as a director. “And then one by one people just signed on because it became something interesting,” he said.

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Source: HIS Education