Robert Downey Jr. ushered in the brand new age of superhero media with the Marvel Cinematic Universe following his debut as Tony Stark in Iron Man. During a recent interview for his work in Oppenheimer, Downey Jr. revealed he thought his skills as an actor had atrophied after eleven years of playing one character.
Robert Downey Jr. recently sat down with The New York Times to talk about his time as Iron Man in the MCU and his role as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The actor stated that, after 11 years, “You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied.” When asked if Nolan capitalized on these fears when filming, Downey Jr. explained that Nolan made sure to stretch the acting muscles he hadn’t used in over a decade.
“Yes. 100%,” Downey explained “And I knew there was a point where Christopher Nolan was endorsing, let’s work those other muscles, but let’s do it while rendering you devoid of your usual go-to things.”
While Robert Downey Jr. is by no means bashing the MCU with this quote, it surely is tiring to play the same type of character for 11 years, especially one as brazen as Iron Man. Downey Jr. explained how nice it was to leave the world of blockbusters and enter a more “pure” form of storytelling with Oppenheimer and Christopher Nolan:
“Coming from that other place, entering the box office weekend-dominating place, then going into this spot now where I’m happy that I’m in this quality product — I’m happy that I regained my connection with a more purist approach to making movies.”
Given Robert Downey Jr.’s first big role after Iron Man was the flop known as Dolittle, it seems as though the MCU star will be taking a break from blockbusters to focus on a much more nuanced series of projects. With Oppenheimer releasing later this month, fans will see how strong Downey Jr.’s muscles truly are.
A New Iron Man Adventure
Marvel Games has promised the currently untitled Iron Man game will deliver an original story in its own continuity.
While few details have been revealed, the fact the game is described as a “single-player, third-person, action-adventure title” is big news. Marvel has released surprisingly few games of this variety in recent years, though the PS4 Spider-Man games were well received and may have encouraged the development of similar games such as this Iron Man project and the upcoming Wolverine.
The game will mark the first solo Iron Man game of this kind for console release since the Iron Man 2 movie tie-in back in 2010.
While Marvel is gradually expanding in the realm of gaming, it is odd that each of its games takes place in its own continuity, foregoing the shared universe format made popular by the MCU. Some dialogue in Spider-Man had implied it would take place in the same continuity as Avengers, though it is possible working with different developers on different titles has made such integration difficult.
Stay tuned for all the latest news on Marvel’s upcoming Iron Man game, and subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original content.
Source: ComicBookMovie.com
