For just over a decade, if anyone could claim to be the center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was Robert Downey Jr. His Tony Stark began the whole franchise in Iron Man and remained its wisecracking core up until his bombastic final bow in Avengers: Endgame. That ending seemed pretty definitive, and we certainly didn’t expect he’d return to the role ever. But, movie and comic magic is a real thing. Yet, on a recent installment of Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series (h/t: ComicBook), he said he’s “surprisingly open-minded” about putting on the suit again.
Downey told fellow Oscar nominee Jodie Foster “It’s just crazily in my DNA. Probably the most like-me character I’ve ever played, even though he’s way cooler than I am. I’ve become surprisingly open-minded to the idea… It really is crazy because we look pretty good. I was actually looking at the stills we were taking, making sure: “Do we still look kind of OK?” I’m like, ‘We look pretty good.'”
The royal “we,” evidently.
With a Secret Wars movie still in the cards, it’s highly likely Kevin Feige will find a way to bring some of the old guard back. That saga merges universes, after all. Who says other Iron Mans aren’t still kicking out there, if the price is right. Robert Downey Jr. don’t come cheap. Either of them.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.