When the brightest and most popular star, Robert Downey Jr., no longer exists. Furthermore, will the MCU be able to retain the audience?

During its first decade, Marvel Studios succeeded in exploiting lesser-known names and taking them to new heights. Chris Pratt used to be an actor who played comedies on the small screen, Chris Hemsworth was nothing in Hollywood before becoming Thor , Chris Evans was a failure with a previous blockbuster project. Still, it’s all based on a single successful prototype: Robert Downey Jr. .

Teaser “Avengers: Endgame”

Iron Man (2008) not only opened the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) but also brought him from the mud to suddenly become an A-list Hollywood star. It is no exaggeration to say that Robert is the representative face and also the “golden egg” of Marvel. However, when his contract ended after Avengers: Endgame, it was time for the company to find a new direction.

A superhero created for everyone to hate

Right from “Iron Man”, Tony Stark has shown his “unpleasant” nature.

There is a funny story that Stan Lee was once challenged to create a superhero that no one liked and Iron Man appeared from there. And Robert Downey Jr. It seems like he was born to become this character when in those first days, no one wanted to give him the role . Years of addiction and self-destruction completely destroyed Robert’s career. His close friend Jon Favreau – who is also the director of Iron Man – had to use his honor to sponsor Robert. The rest has become history.

And it didn’t change until “Iron Man 2”.

Robert’s performance completely blew away fans and critics, and started Marvel on a journey to the top. Until now, Robert Downey Jr. is the most powerful actor of Marvel Studios, and Iron Man is also a work that has a completely separate position from the rest of Marvel.

Robert is attractive because he is smart, agile and funny, and because his character makes viewers feel the wounds in his life, sympathize with Tony and Robert himself. Within a few years, Robert became one of the few highest-paid stars in Hollywood. His face became a global icon.

Tony easily conflicts with someone who follows a “military career” like Captain America.

We humans are easily moved by stories of redemption. For one reason or another, we love stories about a downtrodden, despised person rising up. We love change, and always have faith in the betterment of humanity. Iron Man happens to be just such a character.

When we first met Tony Stark in Iron Man, he was the most sarcastic man on the planet, fascinated with weapons of mass destruction and boasting about his wealth. Tony Stark was always selfish. The characters around him – Pepper Potts ( Gwyneth Paltrow ), Happy Hogan ( Jon Favreau ), James Rhodes ( Don Cheadle ) – barely tolerate his presence and always question whether he is worthy of their loving efforts or not.

Do you remember this “civil war”?

Then a miracle happened. After he was taken hostage in Afghanistan and nearly died in a rocket attack, he realized that he needed to think about people other than himself. This created a unique character arc, and it developed fully until the end of Endgame.

The journey of change makes the whole world cry

“Iron Man 3” demonstrates Tony’s change when he fears he cannot protect the world.

With each passing episode, we’ve seen Tony understand, listen, and empathize more. He has had many failures along the way, from secretly devising a global security and surveillance system in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) to siding with the government in its efforts to regulate supremacism. hero in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Indeed, even in Endgame, Tony refused the Avengers’ “time heist” because he had a perfect family.

However, he still accepted the risk to save the world once again. Captain America once said in The Avengers that “I’m not the type of person who dares to sacrifice himself and lie on barbed wire for his teammates to overcome.” But Steve was wrong, the whole world was wrong. When Tony uttered the legendary words “I am Iron Man”, many people shed tears. Iron Man is Tony Stark’s redemption. It’s not simply a selfish person becoming better, it’s something more special than that.

Their relationship gradually changed completely.

That’s also what Robert did. His road to redemption began long before he played Tony Stark, and like all stories climbing out of the abyss of self-loathing and self-harm, it was not a journey. failure. There are failures and difficulties, doubts, wanting to give up and sometimes painful losses. But he was able to convey those things through his character, which is truly a miracle of cinema.

In fact, he almost never looks like he’s acting. Watching this viral video of Robert introducing a working robotic arm to a child in 2015 reveals a kind, wonderful human being, someone who is an icon worthy of the world to follow. Tony Stark or Robert Downey Jr. are both beautiful images, a proof that people can always become better.

Is Spider-Man enough to replace Iron Man like the trailer of “Far From Home”?

However, Robert Downey Jr. Finally had to end my journey. Later, if we meet again, we will only see Iron Man in someone’s fleeting memory. The new era of the MCU has begun, and they are truly facing difficulties. It’s not a matter of having stronger or more famous characters. We have dozens of powerful new characters, capable of changing reality and traveling through spaceships, but we still haven’t found a true leader like Tony Stark.

Even Spider-Man cannot stand on its own, but is built as a continuation of the era. However, of the next generation, who has enough weight to carry an entire generation like Robert Downey Jr.? Who has the power to make hope, who has the power to make those who watch and love Marvel learn how to become better? Hemsworth, Pratt, Tom Holland or Brie Larson ?

Conclusion

As in the funeral scene at the end of Endgame, Pepper Potts is seen dropping Tony Stark’s reactor on the lake with writing: “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart”. That heart has melted so many people around the world, and has enough weight to prove the positive change of people. What Marvel needs is not an A-list star or another attractive face, but an actor and character capable of moving the audience’s hearts for a long time.