Robert Downey Jr. Reveals When He Will Quit As Iron Man

By the release of Avengers 4 in 2019 Robert Downey Jr. will have portrayed Iron Man and Tony Stark in 10 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This has led to a feeling that the actor will soon step down as the character in the near future, especially since he appears to now be on a film by film contract with the studio. Robert Downey Jr. has now revealed when he will decide to quit as Iron Man, insisting that he will do so before it gets “embarrassing.”

“I just want to hang up my jersey before it’s embarrassing.”

The 52-year-old actor made this admission when he sat down with News.com.au to promote his latest turn as Tony Stark/Iron Man in Spiderman: Homecoming. Robert Downey Jr. went on to explain exactly why he keeps on returning as Iron Man close to a decade after originally making his debut in Jon Favreau’s 2008 smash-hit film, admitting that he just can’t resist the opportunities that Marvel offer him as the character.

“It’s this cyclical thing. I could have said when the first Avengers came out: ‘It’s never going to get any better than that. Everybody stop’. But to me it’s always about people and opportunities, like [working with] the Russos, who I adore.”

Speculation that Robert Downey Jr. might actually leave the role as Iron Man has been growing for quite some time.

Especially after the release of a third solo Iron Man film back in 2013. However, since then, Robert Downey Jr. has been convinced to return as the character in Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and now Spider-Man: Homecoming.

There’s still plenty more to come from Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, too, as the actor is currently shooting Avengers: Infinity War and its still untitled follow-up. These will be released in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

In the build-up to the release of the third and fourth Avengers films there has been increasing speculation that one of the main superheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will perish in the blockbuster. As recently as last week Kevin Feige admitted that Avengers: Infinity War will be the final chapter for some of the Marvel superheroes, which only exacerbated the belief that either Captain America or Iron Man will die in it.

We’ll find out if that’s the case when Avengers: Infinity War is released on May 4, 2018, while its follow-up will arrive on May 3, 2019.

[Featured Image by Marvel Studios]