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Kevin Feige Says 'Iron Man' Role is Interchangeable Like James Bond

by Ethan Anderton
April 27, 2012
Source: Badass Digest

Now before anyone gets bent out of shape, let's be clear that Robert Downey Jr. doesn't currently have any plans to walk away from the Iron Man franchise at Marvel Studios just yet. Iron Man 3 is well on its way to shooting this summer (with Ben Kingsley playing the villain, and Guy Pearce and Jessica Chastain playing a couple of scientists) and Downey is likely already signed for a sequel to The Avengers as well. But beyond that, the actor is getting closer to being 50-years old, and he won't always be suiting up as Iron Man. Thankfully, it sounds like we won't have to endure a franchise reboot, at least if Kevin Feige has his way.

In speaking with Badass Digest, Feige was talking about the future of the franchise if Downey were to walk away or become too old to fill Tony Stark's shoes anymore. It was suggested that the role of Tony Stark could easily be like James Bond in that a new actor could step into the role for a series of films to keep the story alive. Feige seemed to like the idea saying:

"I think Bond is a good example. Let’s put it this way: I hope Downey makes a lot of movies for us as Stark. If and when he doesn’t, and I’m still here making these movies, we don’t take him to Afghanistan and have him wounded again. I think we James Bond it."

Of course, Feige still says the character can age with the actor as long as he stays with the role for an extended period of time. It's also pointed out that the truly taxing part of the role, suiting up as Iron Man for action, could easily be done by a stuntman with Downey still playing Stark and providing his voice to the action scenes. It's not a bad idea, and it would mean that we wouldn't have to see another origin story or a complete reboot of the franchise. Thankfully, Feige seems to be against the idea of a reboot, or at least the moniker that comes with them, altogether. Feige says:

"I think the term reboot has got to go. I think it’s like after the 'Star Wars' movies nobody likes the idea of prequels, and reboots have turned into the same thing. It means ‘Oh they’ve run out of ideas! It’s bad.’ I’ve seen 'The Amazing Spider-Man.' It’s awesome. It’s totally fresh and unique."

So basically what it comes down to is coming to terms with the universe of comic book movies, being similar to that of the comic book world. We can have multiple iterations of the same hero, but we don't necessarily need a new origin story or even the whining that comes with having a new actor step into a superhero role. And if there's one superhero who is worthy of immortality like James Bond, it's the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark. But the question is who could live up to the perfect performance that Downey has delivered thus far? Kyle Chandler comes to mind, especially after his turn as Bruce Baxter in King Kong. What about Billy Crudup, Timothy Olyphant or maybe the more A-List choice of Leonardo DiCaprio? Actually, Colin Farrell would be pretty damn perfect. What do you guys think?

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Reader Feedback - 35 Comments

They've already done that with Bruce Banner... The Hulk. I just hope if this is the case, they don't reboot it. Reboots suck. They should just continue the stories.

Roderick on Apr 27, 2012

Liam Hemsworth would be a funny choice! Tom Hardy gets my vote.

acharlie on Apr 27, 2012

Reboot really a bad idea... Downey Jr. is the best playing billionaire, playboy and genius Mr.Stark. After two super duds everyone expecting more from Bond movies not just cars, gadgets or super models in bikini. I can say Reboot James Bond if "Skyfall" goes flat on the big screen.

Aniruddha Chowkidar on Apr 27, 2012

did you say two super duds? Casino Royale was certainly not a dud.

Akwasi Asabere on Apr 27, 2012

ditto and i think Quantum was only a dud because they turned a five minute one page short story into an under two hour movie.....

Jericho on Apr 27, 2012

the only thing they took from that story was the title. QOS was a dud because there was a writers strike and a shit director.

the masked middle finger on Apr 28, 2012

my favorite part of QOS was when James bond and Camille jumped out of a burning plane in the middle of the desert and they landed in a hole that explained the Evil plot of the whole movie. wtf

DoomCanoe on Apr 29, 2012

How about make movies with the thousand other characters marvel has.

mooreworthy on Apr 27, 2012

i like you 🙂 seriously Marvel, i love Iron Man, but give us movies featuring other characters, like Ant-Man or Black Panther.

mouse. on Apr 29, 2012

yeah ..i like to see Leonardo DiCaprio as Dr Stranger.

Dilan on May 1, 2012

whoa leo dicaprio as tony stark. I'd like to see that.

Michael Lee on Apr 27, 2012

This would not work. Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. It's okay to re-cast Banner, because Norton (while good) wasn't particularly memorable in the role.

john on Apr 27, 2012

How about Eric Bana?

There are three Hulks on Apr 27, 2012

That version of "Hulk" was not made by Marvel Studios, so I don't even consider it part of the current Marvel universe that the films have been a part of since 2008. Recasting Tony Stark in Iron Man would be a much bigger deal - at least from my perspective.

john on Apr 27, 2012

Guy Pearce and Jessica Chastain as scientists, that's definitely Antman and Wasp

shamanjao on Apr 27, 2012

Hell yes!!! Hopefully this is true.

mouse. on Apr 29, 2012

So keep recasting Iron Man, and have like 30+ Iron Man movies, right?.... Ya I guess :/

LosZombies on Apr 27, 2012

Every James Bond movie is a reboot, that's the point. Yeah yeah, not Quantum but they're basically all totally as interchangeable as the actors. I think that should be a pretty easy model for series' based on comic books.

OfficialJab on Apr 27, 2012

I agree that this would work, but I don't necessarily want to see never ending Iron Mans. At least not if they're the way they're being made now. I enjoy them now, but they don't fit the Bond model necessarily.

Al on Apr 27, 2012

No. Don't do it. I will substitute Iron Man for another movie if that happens. Capiche.

Whosphoneisthis on Apr 27, 2012

I think Josh Duhamel or Chris Pine as Tony Stark!!

AL17 on Apr 27, 2012

Josh Duhamel or Chris Pine as Tony Stark

AL17 on Apr 27, 2012

If they want the term 'reboot' to go, stop remaking the same damn movie every few years.

Max Renn on Apr 27, 2012

Disney should swap out Kevin Feige.

Brad Morris on Apr 27, 2012

I don't like the idea of an Iron Man movie sans RDJ either (he carried this movies, damn it) but just listen closer to what he's saying, people. He's basically just saying you don't need to reboot the entire series just because you swap out an actor. You can keep the continuity. And that is a good thing. I mean, for example, do we really want to see the Spider-Man origins story retold three times over the next 25 years?

Craig on Apr 27, 2012

Kevin Feige better shut his damn mouth. If RDJ's ego catches wind of this he will have to find a new stark.

Rhythm Master on Apr 28, 2012

So in other words he's like Superman, Batman, The Hulk and Spiderman

Geoffrey Shauger on Apr 28, 2012

Those all had franchise reboots. Feige doesn't want to reboot the franchise with a new origin story. He wants to keep the continuity going and the character development from previous films in place. There's a difference between that and all the other films in the franchises you just mentioned.

Ethan Anderton on Apr 29, 2012

To be fair, Batman had pretty much got the Bond switch-out thing down before Bale climbed aboard and that reboot was more to do with the series turning into a putrid mess than a need to retell the origin story with every new actor. Swapping actors in/out is nothing new but I totally agree with bringing a halt to this new plague of restarting with every new actor just for the sake of it.

Chris on Apr 30, 2012

Hey, what better way to keep the cash cow alive right??!

Ron on Apr 28, 2012

how many of these films are they thinking of making exactly? they shouldn't go on forever, marvel should have a plan laid out and end the whole universe after each hero has 4-5 solo movies and maybe 3 avengers movies! then they should leave it then after that for maybe 10 years and come back and restart the whole universe again with new actors....

ironstark on Apr 29, 2012

Um, why?

Chris on Apr 30, 2012

Peter Dinklage would dominate as Iron Man.

Voice of Reason on Apr 30, 2012

Colin Farrell would be a GREAT choice! I'd love to see that!

Shani_6420 on Oct 9, 2012

Jensen Ackles?? He's more of a super hero figure then Leonardo DiCaprio! Leonardo should stick to chick flicks!

bhess12 on Apr 26, 2013

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