Why Robert Downey Jr. worried playing ‘Iron Man’ might ruin his career

Tony Stark wasn’t all fun and games and snarky one-liners. 

Robert Downey Jr., 58, recently confessed that during his decadelong stint of playing Stark, a k a “Iron Man” in the Marvel movies, he was “one hundred percent concerned” that his acting skills would be negatively impacted. 

“You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied,” Downey told the New York Times. 

The Oscar nominated actor starred as Iron Man between 2008 and 2019, ultimately becoming the world’s top earning actor. 

It was a dramatic turn around for the formerly incarcerated actor, sentenced to three years in prison in 1999 for cocaine possession charges. He was granted an early release in 2000. 

““You could just feel the evil in the air,” he said in another recent interview, referring to his time in prison.

But, even though his dramatic fall and rise was the stuff of movies, he had some reservations about finally moving on from Tony Stark. 

The actor will appear in the hotly anticipated Christopher Nolan flick, “Oppenheimer,” out July 21 — the same day as the “Barbie” movie.

He’ll play Lewis Strauss, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, rival to scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (“Peaky Blinders” star Cillian Murphy).

“I knew there was a point where Chris Nolan was endorsing, let’s work those other muscles, but let’s do it while rendering you devoid of your usual go-to things,” Downey confessed to the Times.

He elaborated that his “usual go-to things,” are, “The fast-talking, charming, unpredictable, blah, blah, blah.”

He said that Christopher Nolan’s style was a huge departure from the Marvel world, but he didn’t mind. 

“Old Chris Nolan calls, and getting to see the spartan, almost monastic way he approaches this art form, it was like going to the other side of the moon,” he said. 

“… I’m a dedicated martial-arts student, and it is great to spar with someone who is more dangerous than you.”

Downey told the outlet that he doesn’t feel a sense of competition with other stars of his caliber, such as Tom Cruise. 

“It’s not that the playing field changes — it’s that it morphs into something that you can’t even really call a playing field anymore. It’s a kind of mosaic of what it was moments before … It’s ‘Thunderdome’ out there. Everybody’s trying to do what they can. There’s a scramble going on, and what a glory to behold.” 

Downey also reflected on his very public redemption journey, from his time in prison to now being one of the Hollywood’s biggest and most bankable stars. 

“I remember with great pride that I was able to even address something like that in a public forum. Yet it would irk me deeply. It felt strangely punitive and unnecessarily humiliating,” he said.

He also said that it makes him sympathetic to other stars who have been cancelled.

“… I didn’t sign up to have that kind of experience. But once you’re there, you gotta roll with the punches. I am close with people right now who have gotten caught up in this iteration of the pendulum-like nature of culture deciding who is and isn’t OK. It is baffling,” he told the Gray Lady.

He said that in his estimation, it takes time for a major reputation overhaul. 

“I think there’s usually a two-year turnaround on sinking to the depths of the Mariana Trench until you get back up to the surface. You come up too quick, we know what happens. There are many points in a comeback or being seen in a favorable light by your peers that, I’ll speak for myself, I wanted to happen sooner than it did, and I felt victimized by the timeline,” he said.

“But mankind’s greatest challenge is to be still. Stay on the bus. The scenery’s changing. You don’t get to decide where you get off the bus. The driver will let you know when you’ve arrived at your stop.”