Avengers: Endgame Directors Say Robert Downey Jr. Deserves an Oscar

Avengers: Endgame finally hit theaters last week, and it’s already broken numerous box office records and is being praised as one of the best films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of the many actors in the film, there’s one individual who specifically shined in the movie and that’s Robert Downey Jr. The actor has been portraying Tony Stark/Iron Man for 11 years now, and Joe and Anthony Russo, the Avengers: Endgame directors, feel it’s about time he was recognized by The Academy for his achievements in the role. According to the Washington Post, the sibling directing team believe Downey Jr. deserves an Oscar more than anyone.

“His cumulative body of work from these movies is staggering,” Joe Russo said while promoting Avengers: Endgame in Washington. “If you look at the work over just even the last four [Marvel] films he’s done, it’s phenomenal. . . . He deserves an Oscar perhaps more than anyone in the last 40 years because of the way that he has motivated popular culture.”

With some of his onscreen moments, “it’s heartbreaking,” Joe Russo added. “He has the world in tears right now.”

While nominations for roles in comic book movies are rare, Heath Ledger notably won Best Supporting Actor posthumously for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight. Downey Jr. has also been nominated in the past, but has yet to win the coveted award. He was nominated in 1992 for playing the titular role in Chaplin and again in 2009 for his hilarious turn in Tropic Thunder.

In the new book Avengers: Endgame – The Official Movie Special, Downey Jr. talked about his tenure as Iron Man saying, “I think if you’d done as many of these films as I have and the first one was so definitive and game-changing – not because I’m so great, but because everybody did their job so well.” You can read more here.

Would you like to see Downey Jr. take home an Oscar for Avengers: Endgame? Tell us in the comments!

In addition to Downey Jr., Avengers: Endgame stars Chris Evans (Captain America), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), and Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon).

Avengers: Endgame is now playing in theaters everywhere. Other MCU films include Captain Marvel, which is still playing in select theaters, and Spider-Man Far From Home, which lands in theaters on July 2nd.

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