Robert Downey Jr. will not return to the MCU, says Kevin Feige

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has shut down rumours that Robert Downey Jr. will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

• READ MORE: ‘Oppenheimer’ review: Christopher Nolan’s mind-blowing biopic hits like a bomb to the brain

Speaking to Vanity Fair for a new profile piece on Downey, Feige has revealed that Marvel Studios will not be bringing back the Iron Man actor after the character was killed off in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Feige said, citing Downey Jr.’s final performance as Iron Man: “We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”

Additionally, Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo shared that Downey Jr. was “reluctant” to re-shoot a single line of dialogue after officially wrapping his scenes.

“We’d already said tearful goodbyes on the last day of shooting. Everybody had moved on emotionally,” Joe Russo said. “We promised him it would be the last time we made him do it — ever.”

Anthony Russo added: “That was a difficult thing for him to do, to come back to pick up that line. When he did come back, we were shooting on a stage directly opposite where he auditioned for Tony Stark. So his last line as Tony Stark was shot literally a couple hundred feet from his original audition that got him the role.”

Robert Downey Jr. most recently starred as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer alongside Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh and more. In a five-star review, NME wrote, “Oppenheimer is a monumental achievement in grown-up filmmaking.”

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