The directors of Civil War think Tony Stark will take a break before the role is ever recast.
Since his redefining role in the first Iron Man film, Robert Downey Jr. has become one of the biggest stars in the world. Even though Iron Man 4 isn’t looking likely, Tony Stark is still a crucial part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with roles in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War.
However, it’s possible that Downey Jr. may someday finally want to retire from being the most famous Avenger, leaving Disney and Marvel to either do away with Tony Stark, or recast the role.
If RDJ decided to stop playing Iron Man, and the role is recast, Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Civil War, have a good idea of how it should be done.
In an interview with Forbes (where they also talked on Spider-Man’s new costume), the directing duo discussed how they would approach recasting Tony Stark.
Joe Russo explained:
“It’s almost impossible to replace Robert, he’s the biggest movie star in the world. One close up from Robert is worth another actor’s entire performance, he’s incredibly gifted and insanely talented. I think if and when he is done with the character I think you will find that Iron Man might disappear for a while. I think the only way that you could reboot that character is to give a generational gap that would allow another actor to at least have a chance to redefine that character without the enormous spectre of Robert hanging over it. 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.”
We agree that quickly recasting Tony Stark is a bad idea, and that the studio should their time, and give other characters the spotlight.
RDJ as Iron Man has become one of the most iconic roles in cinematic history, so simply pushing another actor into Stark’s shoes sounds like a bad idea.
So far, Marvel has had to recast two major roles in the MCU: Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, and Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk. Both instances have been met with warm reception, and we have faith Marvel will make intelligent recasting decisions if they unfortunately have to do so.
Until the inevitable day arrives, Robert Downey Jr is Iron Man, and Iron Man is Robert Downey Jr.
Captain America: Civil War hits theaters on May 6.
