The trend of creating long-running, big-budget film franchises is something that we have seen since the late 70s and early 80s. But none of them have even come close to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And what made this franchise stick with the audience was Robert Downey Jr. in his red armor suit, depicting the character of Tony Stark in the first Iron Man.
And as if a dam had been opened during heavy rain, the first film of the MCU flooded the land of cinema for a flourishing multi-billion dollar superhero franchise to zoom past every other major cinematic universe. But as with all good things, it also had to come to an end, and so it did, in the form of RDJ’s retirement as the genius inventor. And with that retirement, came a little bit of doubt.
Robert Downey Jr. Feels His Title Of Biggest Hollywood Star Has Been Taken From Him
While the attempt to bring comic book superheroes into the mainstream media has been going on for a while, the success came when the newly-born Marvel Studios took their first step with the release of Iron Man in 2008. That film was one of the biggest hits of the year, all thanks to Robert Downey Jr‘s irreplaceable performance as the genius playboy inventor, Tony Stark. But when the star finally retired from his most iconic role, he felt the world would forget him as the biggest movie star of Hollywood.
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In an episode of Howard Stern’s podcast, the Sherlock Holmes star was in conversation with the host of the show, who talked to him about his career as well as his experiences coming up as one of the premier stars in the business. But the biggest question that Stern had was regarding whether he thought he was still the biggest star in the industry, to which Downey Jr. replied, saying:
“I was until a couple of months ago … I retired my jersey,”
While he may be confused about his position in the industry now, the millions of fans of the MCU, and especially Iron Man, will always be there to remind him of the great legacy he left behind.
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Why Is Iron Man Such A Crucial Character In The MCU?
Aside from the fact that Iron Man was the character that made the creation of the franchise possible with the first film, all the major events that shape the journey of the first four Phases of the MCU are in someway, connected to the Stark bloodline. From the creation of Captain America, the first super soldier by Howard Stark, to the timeline-traversing adventure to bring half of the universe back from non-existence, everything was made possible through the genius mind of Tony Stark and his father.
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Iron Man, streaming on Disney+.
Source: Howard Stern
