Robert Downey Jr. was the face of one of the most lucrative superhero franchises in cinema history. But even in the middle of his run as Iron Man, he wondered if the superhero genre was already starting to wear thin.
Robert Downey Jr. once felt there were too many superhero films being released
The concern for superhero fatigue has grown recently thanks to the critical and commercial disappointments of certain superhero films. Some have pointed to Marvel’s most recent flicks as evidence of the concept. An argument can be made that some of Marvel’s content has yet to resonate with audiences as much as it did in the past. But even during the peak of Marvel’s success, Downey seemed to feel that fatigue was setting in a little.
“Honestly, the whole thing is just showing the beginning signs of fraying around the edges,” Downey said in a 2014 interview with The Telegraph. “It’s a little bit old… Last summer there were five or seven different ones out. I feel that they are critiqued by a different metric to any other movie. Right, [that metric is box office], but also they are more forgiven because they operate on a different frequency. It’s like a bunch of really good dancers and you’re looking for the one who keeps changing her leg warmers. They make a lot of money.”
Ironically, a decade after Downey’s interview, Disney has been brainstorming ways to restore the Marvel franchise back to its former glory. One of their strategies is to release no more than 3 Marvel movies, and two Marvel shows on Disney +. Only time will tell if the less is more approach Disney seems to be taking will work.
Robert Downey Jr. was worried Iron Man would ruin his acting
Downey dabbled in a few other roles after he became Iron Man. But aside from Tropic Thunder, which earned him an Oscar nomination, perhaps none of his other roles at the time were as popular as his superhero alter-ego. But Downey couldn’t play Iron Man forever, and after Endgame, he’d officially retire the character. But after playing Iron Man for so long, Downey worried that his growth and range as an actor might’ve been stunted. Which would’ve been a problem if he wanted to seek out other roles.
“You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied,” Downey told The New York Times not too long ago.
He credited Christopher Nolan for encouraging Downey to work the same acting muscles he thought he might’ve lost. Their film Oppenheimer couldn’t have been anymore different than the superhero movies Downey had starred in. With Nolan’s advice and encouragement, Downey left behind all traces of Tony Stark to play Lewis Strauss. And in the end, Nolan’s endorsement paid off handsomely, as Downey won an Oscar for best supporting actor due to his performance.
Robert Downey Jr. felt his acting as Iron man went under the radar
Although he was worried about the effects Iron Man would have on his acting, Downey was also very proud of his Marvel performances. So much so that he considered them some of the best work in his career. But since Downey was representing the superhero genre, he felt these performances went highly unnoticed.
“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,” Downey said on Rob Lowe’s Literally! podcast.”[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.”
