Read Robert Downey Jr.’s Emotional Speech Before The Avengers Premiere

The hero that started it all took the stage at the Avengers: Infinity War premiere last night, and as always he didn’t disappoint.

That would be Robert Downey Jr., who along with Jon Favreau and Gwyneth Paltrow delivered a superhero movie that launched an entire universe. He took the stage last night and delivered an emotional speech that was just as engaging as any film, and you can get some of the highlights below (via EW).

“This is a miracle,” Downey said. “And if any one of us took credit it would be heresy. It would be blasphemy.” He quickly changed gears though, curtsying and saying “Screw it … you’re welcome!”

“I want to talk about the past, present, and future,” Downey said. “The past for me was 30 years of dependency, depravity, and despair …. otherwise known as ‘An Actor Prepares!’”

“The present is this moment of glory for all of us. And the future…? That is always uncertain. But looking at these friends behind me,” Downey said with a look back, “it seems like things might brighten up after all.”

He referred to the MCU as “an isolated incident” in Hollywood’s history, adding “None of us are in competition with each other. We are all competing for each other — and for you.”

Downey referenced his notes before improving a bit, telling Don Cheadle “I might go Miles Davis on you, right, Don?” He was referring to Cheadle’s previous work in the 2015 biography film Miles Ahead.

“If you play a superhero in one of these movies, and it works, you become a big star!” Downey said. “And it … is … meaningless. Unless you use that to achieve something higher. You have to take direction from peers, and your family, and occasionally even an actual director.”

Downey referred to directing a Marvel movie as “extremely dangerous.” “It’s like a crucible. You either come out steel or dust.”

He also took a moment to address the MCU’s lack of diversity in directors, bringing up Captain Marvel’s duo of Anna Bowden and Ryan Fleck as a step in the right direction.

“Now at least half a directing team is female,” Downey said, before calling for more women behind the camera. “Making these movies is so taxing that it is clearly a woman’s job. It’s essentially gestation. But we don’t know how to do that,” he said, adding an awkward wave to the other men on the stage.

Downey also praised Black Panther’s success. “Wakanda rules the day and rightfully so.”

“By the way, Wakanda forever!” Downey said, throwing in a crossed-arm salute to Chadwick Boseman.

“I can do that as an honorary black man: Tropic Thunder, 2008!” Downey said.

The crowd laughed, and after a minute or so he said “This is the MCU, right in front of you,” he said. “It’s all about fighting for equality. The whole idea is to make space for others to succeed, and exceed our expectations.”

“[The movies] are inviting us to surrender and love and be of service,” Downey said. “They are metaphors for how our world should be — or could be one day, if we fight for it.”

“My writing is getting more sketchy,” he said, segueing into praise for Paltrow, who starred with him in the very first Iron Man. Downey called her “the very first First Lady of Marvel, and now there are many.”

He also took a moment to recognize Jon Favreau, who brought that vision of Iron Man to life on the screen.

“When they say the man who started it all, that is you, Jon. You brought it to life,” Downey said.

Before handing off the microphone to Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo, he joked that they were on “an ICU drip” from exhaustion. “They have not turned to dust yet,” Downey said.

Downey said he had started these notes the night before after the film’s international tour. “I was up late. I got a tattoo — I don’t want to talk about it! It’s none of your business!” he said to a laugh. “I was up late and wrote this, and …”

Always one to know his moment, he smiled and delivered a fantastic line, saying “I think this might be the greatest speech ever written!”

After the crowd laughed he followed it with “Or maybe I’m just emo and exhausted.”

You can see Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man once more in Avengers; Infinity War, which hits theaters tomorrow. You can read our full review of the movie here.