Credit: Marvel StudiosThere are few characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with as large — or as passionate — of a fan base as Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man.
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RDJ’s fan-favorite character launched the blockbuster super hero universe with Iron Man (2008) and went on to appear in 11 total MCU films — Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
As more than a decade passed, Stark turned from a billionaire playboy into the husband of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), the father of little Morgan, the trusted confidante of Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), the mentor of Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), the sometimes-adversary of Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), and the fearless leader of his father’s legacy, Stark Industries.
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Stark also bravely sacrificed himself to save the world from Thanos (Josh Brolin) as Marvel’s Infinity Saga came to a conclusion in Endgame.
Although RDJ has confirmed that his time in the MCU is through, and that he’s done “all I could” with the popular super hero character, he remains popular with Marvel movie fans — some have even begged for his return with a billboard.
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Chris Hemsworth, on the other hand, is about to make his fourth solo outing in the MCU in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder. The actor, for his part, has also made a huge impression on the fandom, appearing in Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
If you’ve kept up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you already know that it hasn’t always been sunshine and roses between Stark Industries’ fearless leader and the Mjolnir-wielding son of Odin.
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In a recent interview, the god of thunder actor said:
“I don’t know that Tony was ever very nice to Thor. [Thor] was the butt of every joke. He wasn’t. Cap was always a little more kind of friendly, [you] know? Offscreen…Down [Downey, Jr.] is the man.”
Waititi also weighed in on Tony’s treatment of Thor over the years, saying:
“No, he [Tony] was never nice to Thor. In Infinity War, you’d been away for a while,” Waititi noted. “Then you land back on earth in Wakanda and no one says, ‘Hello.’ Really? I found that odd. Yes, they’re in the middle of a battle. I get that. But like everyone just like, ‘Oh, there he is.'”
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Iron Man-free outing Thor: Love and Thunder has received praise from critics — who say it has more of an emotional, “rom com” vibe than they were expecting — after early screenings. The latest MCU blockbuster will see the returns of numerous fan favorites from prior Thor movies, including Hemsworth, Natalie Portman (Jane Foster/Mighty Thor), and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie).
The new installment in the popular Thor franchise will also feature appearances by multiple Guardians of the Galaxy cast members, such as Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Vin Diesel (Groot), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), and Pom Klementieff (Mantis).
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Christian Bale and Russell Crowe will make their MCU debuts as Gorr the God Butcher and Zeus, respectively.
The movie hits theaters on July 8, 2022.
What do you think about Tony Stark’s treatment of Thor?
You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and the seven 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…?, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight, and Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel— on Disney+ anytime.