Robert Downey Jr Reveals He Is Open On Returning To MCU--And Making An Obscene Amount Of Cash

Avengers: Endgame closed a chapter on a 10-year journey starting with 2008's Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr would become synonymous with both the Iron Man and Tony Stark characters, becoming a keystone for the MCU at large. Stark sacrificed himself at the end of Endgame defeating the mad titan Thanos and bringing everyone who had "died" back to life.

Downey said he was done playing the character and retired from the MCU and wanted to focus on being an actor again. That plan worked out very well and finally won his first Oscar this past year at the Academy Awards. However, recently Downey has said he'd "happily" work with Marvel again, even though a full-blown return of Iron Man seems unlikely.

Talking with Jodie Foster on Variety's latest Actors on Actors, Foster asked if Downey would suit up again. Downey said it's not completely out of the question.

"It's just crazily in my DNA. Probably the most like-me character I've ever played, even though he's way cooler than I am," Downey replied. "I've become surprisingly open-minded to the idea."

When he was originally cast, Downey was seen as a liability due to his checkered past. He was seen as someone who was radioactive, but Jon Favreau trusted him as he was on the path to a comeback after Shane Black's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. The same summer that Iron Man hit theaters, Downey was also seen in Tropic Thunder, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination.