Robert Downey Jr. Reflects On His Iron Man Legacy

Robert Downey Jr. is taking a breather from helping promote Spider-Man: Homecoming to reflect on his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man — the one role that can be attributed to kickstarting the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it.

“I’ve been semi-retired since the first weekend Iron Man 1 opened.The great thing about life is good things happen – and I’ll speak for myself – and you get inflated,” Downey told the Toronto Sun.”You think, ‘Oh my God, I’ve created everything that’s great in my life.’ And then things happen where you go, ‘OK, there’s evidence to the contrary’ and at this point you go back to thinking, ‘It’s nice to be on this call sheet.’”

The two-time Oscar nominee is the highest-credited cast member within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe with Homecoming being his seventh appearance in the MCU and while Iron Man has been a tremendous part of his life over the past decade, there will be a time for it to end.

When that time comes, Downey says he wants to make sure he leaves the MCU when it’s at its peak state.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige doubled-down on the notion that the Tony Stark character will either be retired or recast at some point.

“I do think Iron Man, like Spider-Man, like Batman, like Superman, like James Bond has existed long before most of us were around and will exist long after most of us are gone,” Feige said. “So it’s inevitable.”

Spider-Man: Homecoming currently enjoys a 4.12 out of 5 on ComicBook.com’s anticipation rankings.

A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

The cast includes Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Donald Glover, JacobBatalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Tyne Daly, Bokeem Woodbine, with Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. It also includes Jon Favreau, Martin Starr, Kenneth Choi, Michael Mando, Selenis Leyva, Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg, Jr., JJ Totah, and Hannibal Buress.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming are both in theaters now, followed by Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017. After that Black Panther debuts on February 16, 2018, while Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018. Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated for July 6, 2018, followed by Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019.

MORE SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING: Tom Holland Thinks Captain America Could Be A Mentor For Spider-Man / Could Miles Morales Come To The MCU After Homecoming? / Homecoming Director Explains Post-Credit, Teases Sequel