INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Robert Downey Jr. Not Ready To Give Up ‘Iron Man’

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 05:01 PST, Jul 23, 2014

Robert Downey Jr, Hollywood’s highest paid actor, isn’t quite ready to walk away from Tony Stark, the role he has all but defined in the Iron Man franchise.

Marvel has been forthright in stating that they plan to film a fourth Iron Man installment, though some have speculated that the role of genius inventor Tony Stark could be taken over by another actor. As The Inquisitr has previously reported, Marvel just recently laid out a road map for “phase three” of its movie projects, revealing that five as-yet-unnamed films will be released between 2017 and 2019. Iron Man 4, according to fans, is almost certainly among them. Yet when Iron Man 4 is filmed, will it be with Downey in the lead role?

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Downey was vague about his possible commitment to any project:

“It’s down to Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president] and Ike [Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel Entertainment] and Disney to come to us with what the proposal is, and that’s on us to agree or disagree. When things are going great, there’s a lot of agreement.”

As CNN notes, the Iron Man films have been some of the most successful of the last decade. The first two installments in the Iron Man franchise each made more than $300 million in the United States, while the third movie topped $400 million domestically. Overseas earnings have steadily improved, with Iron Man 3 earning $1.2 billion worldwide.

Earlier this week, Downey was named by Forbes as the highest paid actor in the world. Over the past year, the 49-year-old Downey made $75 million, mostly from his backend deal for Iron Man 3.

The Iron Man franchise saw major changes announced last week as well, at least in comic book form. As part of Marvel’s Now! initiative, which is aimed at revamping their most iconic characters, Iron Man will be replaced with a new, indefinite comic series titled Superior Iron Man. The new comic will see Tony Stark moving to San Francisco, where he falls victim to his ever-present ego, skirting the line between good and evil.

“Why give up the belt when it feels like you can barely get jabbed?” Downey asked, before adding the caveat that “Most people are saying that right when they get knocked out.” As far as Iron Man 4 is concerned, Robert Downey Jr. points out that “The future is, as usual, uncertain.”

[Image via IGN]

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