So this is getting interesting and there’s really no way it can end well, not for anyone really. Here’s what happened:
Last week, Marvel movie head honcho Kevin Feige decided to… well, I’m really not sure what he thought he was doing when he told Bad Ass Digest how easily replaceable Robert Downey Jr. is. He told the site that he sees Tony Stark as being like James Bond, a role that audiences will accept a new actor in without question.
“I think Bond is a good example. Let’s put it this way: I hope Downey makes a lot of movies for us as Stark. If and when he doesn’t, and I’m still here making these movies, we don’t take him to Afghanistan and have him wounded again. I think we James Bond it.”
While, yes, Feige is really just assuring fans that when Downey decides he won’t play Stark anymore, the character will go on, sans reboot, there’s another implication here. Feige is not-so-subtly telling his actor that he could replace him at any time, that he’s totally willing to do it and that the audience wouldn’t care at all.
(Don’t do it, man. He’s not worth it.)
It’s that implication that led to MTV asking the actor for his opinion on the matter. Downey was… less than optimistic about someone trying to take over for him.
“I would really hate for someone else to think they could step into my shoes,” he said. An infamous jokester, he couldn’t help but ask, “I wonder who’s playing Tony Stark next. Is it you? Is that what you’re here to tell me?”
He went on to say that the whole issue is pretty much moot anyway as he has no plans to go anywhere anytime soon, but even that came with an implied warning.
“I know things are looking like that they could go on for a long while,” Downey said. “As usual in my book, it’s all about quality control and delivering a product that you can have this kind of reaction to. If they keep doing that, maybe I’ll keep showing up.”
So whose threat will win out? Will Marvel keep up their standards or will they have to start looking for a new Iron Man?
