Robert Downey Jr. Hints At Leaving Marvel And ‘Iron Man’ Behind

It’s no secretIron Man 3marks the end ofRobert Downey Jr.’s contract withMarvel. The actorhas been vocal about it, the president of the studio Kevin Feigehas talked about it, but everyone agreed concentrating onIron Man 3was the most important thing. That film is now done and hitting theaters in mere days. So talk once again turns to Downey’s future with Marvel. The actor’s charismatic turn as billionaire playboy Tony Stark is credited for igniting the massive success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while he feels like an integral part of that universe Downey recently revealed he has an end in mind for his Marvel run.

In a new interview withGQmagazine, the actor said he’s had a ton of fun playing Iron Man and hasn’t decided anything for sure, but suggests about three more years is as far as he can go with the role, at least physically. After that, he’d like to direct and star in a Halloween-set thriller. Read the quotes below.

All the below quotes come fromthis GQ profile, with a hat tip toThe Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s a small excerpt from the really fantastic profile:

Downey knows that no ball can bounce forever like his has in recent years. “This period of time, this shall pass,” he says. “Fortunately I’ve been around the block enough—I’m not ill-prepared. And I love change. I love it when a lightning bolt hits the genny and you’re down for two hours on the set. Now, this isn’t a lightning strike, this is like the warning of a gathering storm.”

When I ask him what the gathering storm is in this case, he answers by telling me about the injury he sustained on theIron Man 3set in North Carolina that shut down production for several weeks. He was doing the kind of wire jump he’s done hundreds of times over the past few years, and he blew his ankle out.

So that’s the line in your head at the moment?

“Yeah, roughly.”

So what stops at 50? Superheroes?

“I don’t know. I don’t know. Right now I don’t have a contract to do anything, and I did for the last five years.”

In the article, Downey also admits he was paid around $50 million for his work inThe Avengers.You’d imagine that would be a difficult thing to move away from. When we spoke to Downeya few months back, he admitted money was a consideration. “Me, the agents and the lawyers are having a bit of a ball right now,” he said. However, with this new three year window in play, that’s doesn’t sound like the issue. He’s more concerned about his health and doing new, exciting things professionally.

Downey seems particularly excited about freeing himself of obligations to do smaller films. One he mentioned specifically, which he’d direct and star in, would feature a “Village Voice reporter on the run” on or around Halloween. “Nobody has cornered Halloween as a market sinceHalloween,” he said. That film would be much smaller than other movies:

The funny thing is even the stuff that I would want to do as an artistic expression of my own I would like to do in a genre, I would like to do for a price, and I would like to be pretty much sure that it was going to be a hit before I started.

Back to Marvel, three years would be 2016, and that would suggest he’ll appear inThe Avengers 2and, maybe, anotherIron Manmovie. Actually, though he doesn’t have a contract forThe Avengers 2yet, ifIron Man 3ties into that film as expected, his participation seemingly confirms he’ll at least be back for that one.

But what if Downey really does hang up the armor after that film? Does Marvel recast the role as once suggested? Or do they do the unthinkable — something hinted at at the end ofThe Avengers? Will Joss Whedon kill Tony Stark?

Lots to think about but, one thing is for certain. Enjoy Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark while you still can.