Chris Evans Doesn’t Think Anyone Can Replace Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man

After the events of Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken a very different turn. With Tony Stark/Iron Man gone and Steve Rogers/Captain America having opted to live out a happy life in the past with Peggy Carter, the focus has begun to shift to new heroes. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the Captain America mantle is being passed on (and at least for the moment not to Sam Wilson/Falcon) but when it comes to Iron Man, Captain America actor Chris Evans doesn’t think anyone can replace Robert Downey Jr.

Speaking with host Angélique Roché for ACE Universe Presents, Evans was asked if he could switch roles with anyone else in the MCU, who would it be and why and while Evans revealed that he wouldn’t mind swapping roles with Downey Jr., he also didn’t think that anyone could improve on his work.

“I don’t think there’s anything anyone on this planet could do that would somehow improve upon what Downey’s done, you know what I mean?” Evans said. “I don’t consider that a role that’s gonna be like a James Bond or a Superman or Batman, that somehow other people get a bite at the apple. He’s Iron Man, the end.”

As for Evans’ Captain America, however, Wyatt Russell who plays the new Captain America John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, thinks Evans is pretty irreplaceable himself, though the Disney+ series is, in a sense, using that in its presentation of the new Captain America. He’s very different, someone described as being “at odds” with his moral compass and who Russell described as having a unique dilemma in the MCU.

“He’s perfect. Who else can play Captain America like Chris Evans? Nobody,” Russell told USA Today. “And what’s good about this show is that it takes that in hand, where it’s like, ‘Well, who is going to [expletive] play Captain America? This guy?”

“I don’t think there’s really been many [Marvel Cinematic Universe] characters who’ve had quite the dilemma he’s had in terms of trying to fit into this sort of moralistic superhero world,” Russell said of the MCU version of Marvel Comics’ US Agent. “He’s been thrust into this role as Captain America and he’s going to do it his way, and he wants to do it right. But his way is a very specific way that he has learned through being basically a trained human hunter. I mean, that’s what Marines are. They’re not Steve Rogers, they’re not the same. They’re not like Boy Scouts anymore. They’re a little bit more gnarly.”

What do you think? Do you think anyone else could play Iron Man — or even carry on the name — besides Robert Downey, Jr.? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+.

Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.