'Captain America: Civil War' Directors Mention That Robert Downey Jr is Almost Impossible to be Replace
Robert Downey, Jr. may be so quintessentially Iron Man that it will be almost impossible to find another actor to replace him, the directors of the upcoming "Captain America: Civil War" have revealed.
Though Iron Man may come across as no more than a flying high-tech suit encasing a volatile genius, the role can't be filled by just anyone. Joe Russo, who co-directed "Civil War," which marks Downey, Jr.'s seventh appearance as Tony Stark/Iron Man in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, says that "the biggest movie star in the world" is "almost impossible to replace."
In a recent interview with Forbes, Joe and his brother/"Civil War" co-director Anthony Russo spoke about who will don the Iron Man suit if and when Downey, Jr. decides that he is done with the role.
Though the director wouldn't give a definite yes or no to the question of whether the cinematic version of Iron Man could continue on after the actor ends his contract with Marvel, he also said, "I think the only way that you could reboot that character is to give a generational gap that would allow another actor to at least have a chance to redefine that character without the enormous specter of Robert hanging over it."
In the interview, the Russos also talked about bringing in Spider-Man, a character owned by Sony, into the upcoming superhero clash film and what sets the iconic DC character apart from the rest of the superheroes crowding "Civil War."
According to Joe, he and Anthony, both of whom are big Spider-Man fans, thought that incorporating the character into "Civil War" would be a great way of inducting him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"I think people are going to be happy with him in the movie, he's got a very interesting role in it," Joe said.
According to Anthony, while the Avengers will be duking it out in "Civil War," "Spidey does not have the baggage that all these other characters have."
"He enters the story after the conflict that is happening between the Avengers and that gives him a very unique place in the story," he revealed.
"Captain America: Civil War" hits theaters May 6.
