Robert Downey Jr. Won't Reprise Tony Stark Role, Says Marvel's Kevin Feige: We Won't 'Touch That Moment Again'

Feige opened up about Downey's future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe during an interview with 'Vanity Fair'

Robert Downey Jr.'s chapter as Iron Man is remaining closed, according to Kevin Feige.

As part of a new Vanity Fair profile on the actor, the Marvel Studios president provided an update for fans who have been hoping for Tony Stark's resurrection. The character, of course, died in 2019's Avengers: Endgame, and Downey has yet to reprise the role.

“We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” Feige told the outlet when asked if Downey would return to the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way," Feige added.

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Endgame director Joe Russo also told the outlet that the film's cast and crew "said tearful goodbyes on the last day of shooting" the 2019 film. "Everybody had moved on emotionally,” he said. “We promised [Downey] it would be the last time we made him do it — ever.”

His brother, co-director Anthony Russo, added that it was a "difficult thing" for Downey to return to pick up his final line as Stark.

“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," Anthony said.

Related: Gwyneth Paltrow Says Robert Downey Jr. 'Could Probably Always Get Me Back' into Acting

Elsewhere in the Vanity Fair story, Feige opened up about how Marvel Entertainment executives didn't initially want Downey cast as Stark for 2008's Iron Man.

“It purely came down to the Marvel board being nervous at putting all of their chips in their future films on somebody who famously had those legal troubles in the past,” Feige said.

“I wasn’t very good — and I’m still not great — at taking no for an answer. But I also don’t pound my chest to try to get my way," he added. "I try to figure out ways to make it as clear to other people why we should head in a direction. And that’s when the idea of a screen test came up.”

Things worked in both Feige and Downey's favor, as the actor eventually took on the role of Stark in 10 films between 2008 and 2019 — three of which rank among the 10 highest-grossing movies of all time.

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Back in May, Iron Man director Jon Favreau and Feige celebrated the 15th anniversary of Downey's first appearance in the iconic armor suit when they sat down for a discussion on the film's legacy. As Favreau explained, the actor almost landed a different role in the Marvel world.

“I remember you had all met with [Downey] already for like Doctor Doom or something on another project,” Favreau, 56, told Feige in an interview released on YouTube. “I think he had come through on maybe Fantastic Four, so everybody sort of knew who he was.”

“I remember sitting down with the guy, and I was like, ‘He’s got that spark in him in his eye and he’s ready,’” he added. “That’s when we were in your office, and we were pointing to his headshot, saying, “We got to try to figure this out. That was enough to get us a screen test.”

Favreau added that Downey "understood the voice" of Stark, making his life "easier" as a director. “And then one by one, people were just signing on board because now it became something interesting," he said.

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