Credit: Marvel StudiosAt last, the 2024 awards season is upon us, and fan-favorite comedian and Saturday Night Live alum John Mulaney certainly kicked things off with a bang at the recent Governors Awards ceremony, where he took aim at one of Disney’s most lucrative franchises: the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
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Ever since Marvel’s critically acclaimed Infinity Saga concluded in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame, the once-mighty franchise has become the target of near-constant criticism from fans, online commentators, and even South Park — and perhaps, for a good reason. Even Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger admitted that the onslaught of Disney+ originals like Secret Invasion and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law “diluted focus” among viewers, with movies like The Marvels (2023) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) earning record-low ratings.
In an attempt to win back disillusioned MCU fans, it seems that Disney and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige are walking things back a bit behind the scenes, taking some much-needed time to reevaluate their release strategy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the now-resolved WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the firing of who was supposed to be the overarching supervillain of the Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).
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While hope might be dwindling for some Marvel fans, they can rest assured knowing that at the very least, Iron Man/Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr. seems to look back on his MCU experience with fondness — and can certainly take a joke about his longstanding MCU role.
During the 14th annual Governors Awards, host John Mulaney joked about the improbability of Angela Bassett getting an Oscar nomination for a Marvel movie (she received a Best Actress nod for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last year), saying, “That’s like getting a Pulitzer Prize for a Reddit comment.” The camera then panned to Downey Jr., who had just won a Golden Globe for his performance in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023). And thankfully, it appears as though he got a kick out of the whole thing.
Check out the hilarious interaction (via @PrimaryCinema on X) below:
Mulaney crushed this pic.twitter.com/1UnlM7UiBe
— Gavin (@PrimaryCinema) January 10, 2024
Although Downey Jr. might not be suiting up to reprise his role as Tony in the MCU anytime soon — despite plenty of internet rumblings — the actor generally speaks fondly of his experience in the superhero franchise, which he’s credited with building thanks to his memorable role in Iron Man (2008), his first collaboration with Jon Favreau. “[Marvel] let the lunatics run the asylum for a little while, so it was completely an indie approach to a genre movie to begin with,” he recently joked to Comic Book.
However, Downey Jr. was candid about wanting to spread his wings, professionally speaking, post-Endgame, admitting, “You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied,” when asked about the risks of playing the same character for well over a decade. Feige has also confirmed that the veteran actor has no intentions of returning to Marvel anytime soon, explaining that the studio “would never want to magically undo” Iron Man’s emotional sacrifice in the final moments of Endgame.
With Oppenheimer likely to earn Robert Downey Jr. an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor — which he easily could win — it’s safe to say that his years of being an Avenger are firmly in the rearview mirror. Still, it’s nice to see that he can take a little jab at his beloved MCU, especially when it’s expertly delivered by a seasoned comic like John Mulaney.
Do you think that Marvel should bring back Iron Man, or is it time to retire Robert Downey Jr.’s genius-playboy-billionaire-philanthropist once and for all? Let us know in the comments below!