Robert Downey Jr. Is 'Far Closer' to Leaving Marvel Than Chris Evans
Can we panic now? Never mind Chris Evans and his possible eventual departure as Captain America, Marvel fans may have a bigger problem: The End of Iron Man.
Evans is now promoting "Gifted," which means he's talking about the Avengers -- because, let's be honest, if you had a chance to ask Cap some questions, you'd probably dig for intel on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, too. He recently gave a worrisome interview on being done with Captain America when his contract ends after "Avengers 4." However, he walked that back in a subsequent interview, and spoke in wistful distant future terms about his exit in a chat with USA Today. But during his answer on eventually hanging up the costume, he threw in Robert Downey Jr.'s name as more likely to walk away first. (Maybe this is still part of their "Civil War" -- Cap and Iron Man playing chicken over quitting the MCU.)
Evans said it would be tough for him to see another actor take over as Captain America, but "the passing of time and the passing of torches is part of the experience. Nothing lasts forever. There's a beauty in that departure, even if it can be sad at times. It's also joyful. I've had a great run. Superheroes are reinventable entities, like Batman or even James Bond. These movies find new incarnations and new ways to tell the story. I am all for it. However they want to proceed after 'Avengers 4,' it's really up to them. I walk away with no regrets and endlessly thankful."
Here's what he told USA Today about Iron Man:
"Downey is far closer to reaching that point where he may walk away. And I don't know how you replace Downey as Tony Stark. I don't know who else can touch that."
NO ONE. Don't even try. This is probably why RDJ makes insane amounts of money for these roles, topping the highest-paid actor lists whenever he's leading a Marvel movie: He knows his Iron Man is too unique to replace, and if they want it, they'd better hand over their first borns. The MCU may not be over without Iron Man, there are enough other superheroes and villains to follow, but there's no way anyone else could replace him.
"Avengers: Infinity War" is scheduled for release May 4, 2018. "Gifted" opens this Friday, April 7.
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