Robert Downey Jr. to Retire from Iron Man Role

Robert Downey Jr. is undoubtedly the reason why Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man is one of the best characters (and one of the most interesting at that) to ever come out of a superhero movie. But all good things should have a nice pleasant ending, and of course, Downey cannot play that role forever. More than once, has he expressed his plans to retire from the role of Iron Man, and probably from other genre movie roles such as Sherlock Holmes, and focus more on personal simple, small movies. This means that Iron Man 3 and his contract commitment to Avengers 2 will be his last movie where we will be able to see him as Iron Man / Tony Stark. [READ THE FULL STORY AFTER THE JUMP]

Downey has had his share of falls into obscurity; in the 90's he gradually became an old forgotten actor, especially while he was battling with drug-addiction in his personal off-camera life. In the early 2000 that he got a gradual rise back to a better career, most especially with the movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang directed by Shane Black. It was not until he appeared as lead in 2008 in the first Iron Man movie, which boosted him into superstardom. He later also became the lead in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies.

However, he knows that at age 48, genre movies are becoming a little too much.  He learned that lesson the hard way when he injured his ankle while doing a stunt on Iron Man 3. In a new profile for GQ Magazine, Downey talks about how that’s leading him to possibly put away the armor in the near future...

“It got me thinking about how big the message from your cosmic sponsor needs to be before you pick it up. How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun? Because, as quiet as it’s kept, I come from a family of very innovative writers and directors and actors and artists, and the circle of friends they were in were the people I heard having pun-offs playing poker at two in the morning, and it was just the most comforting aspect of my childhood. So there’s this kind of legacy of souls from what I consider to be a very particular time in entertainment, and I’m sensing a return to that—it’s what me and the missus are doing next. It’s not unlike: I heard Brady signed on for three more years with New England, and then he’s done being a QB, because he’ll be 40. I’m 47, and I’ll be 50.”

With Iron Man 3, Downey comes full circle, acting under the helm of director Shane Black, who directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which was one of the movies that revived his career, and Iron Man, the franchise which made his new superstar career. with Avengers 2, he is still under contract to wear the superhero armor one last time. Downey has done a great run, and he will be best remembered as the one who defined this role. Even though he will retire, we all know that Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark; Iron Man.