Robert Downey, Jr. Is Returning to Movies as a Villain

Robert Downey, Jr. said goodbye to his most iconic role, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, in Avengers: Endgame (2019). The actor has insisted he has “done all I could” with the fan-favorite Marvel character, and has even gone so far as to unfollow all of his Avengers franchise costars on social media as he prepares to move on to the next phase of his career.

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RDJ’s first post-Infinity Saga project was Dolittle (2020), but he is now seemingly set to return to the movies in a villainous role. Per a new report:

Robert Downey Jr. and Shane Black [Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys] are reportedly reteaming for a new adaptation of author Donald Westlake/Richard Stark’s Parker novels at Amazon…

…Downey is the latest to play the cold and meticulous career criminal Parker, inspiration for characters portrayed by Lee Marvin (in 1967’s Point Blank), Jim Brown (1968’s The Split), Robert Duvall (in 1973’s The Outfit), Peter Coyote (in 1983’s Slayground), and Mel Gibson (in 1999’s Payback). Jason Statham most recently played the professional thief in 2013’s Parker.

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Reportedly, Downey, Jr.’s wife, Susan Downey (Sherlock Holmes, Sweet Tooth), will produce the upcoming Amazon flick alongside Joel Silver.

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There is no known release date for the film. Per IMDb, RDJ also has four other projects in the works following his two-year hiatus any movie appearances. Notably, he is set to star alongside Jamie Foxx (Spider-Man: No Way Home) in All-Star Weekend (2022) and is working on Oppenheimer (2023).

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As for the actor’s fellow Avengers actors, many of them recently returned to lend their voice talents in Marvel Studios’ animated series What If…?, which has been renewed for a second season. Although Downey, Jr.’s Stark was recast with a new voice actor,  Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/the Hulk), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Michael Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym), Michael B. Jordan (Erik “Killmonger” Stevens), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Stephen Strange), and late actor Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther) were all back for the show.

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What do you think about Robert Downey, Jr.’s latest role?

You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and the five series in Marvel’s Phase Four so far — Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’s WandaVision, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Marvel’s What If…?, and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye— on Disney+ anytime.