Every year, especially since blockbusters have officially taken over the theatrical experience, there is a spirited debate over what makes constitutes an “Oscar-worthy” film. Does the film have to tackle important societal issues? Should it feature an A-list actor at the top of their game? And does it have to earn a certain amount of money and be seen by a large enough audience to truly be the “Best” anything? Ask any random film fan and they’re likely going to give you different answers. And because of the subjectivity of it all, you can have filmmakers like Jon Favreau say that Robert Downey, Jr. deserves the industry’s highest honor for his role as a superhero.
Speaking to Variety, Favreau is asked about RDJ’s chances at an Oscar, giving his rock-solid performance in “Avengers: Endgame.” The seemingly final ‘Avengers’ film paid off a decade’s worth of stories that began in “Iron Man,” starring Downey, Jr and directed by Favreau. So yeah, you could say that he may be a bit biased.
“He has my vote for sure,” Favreau said. “I think he was able to discover and explore dimensions of the character over the course of many, many films, which is a bit of its own category. But I have to say that if you look at, especially how it began and how it ended in his performances between the first one and ‘Endgame,’ there was a really thoughtful arc to the character, both in his performance and how all the filmmakers contributed to that character.”
He continued, “I’m glad I got to be a part of it and be there for those meaningful scenes as an actor, but also to be there as a friend, and to watch him explore things deeply through a character [when] you don’t normally have that opportunity. And he took full advantage of it.”
Favreau isn’t the first person to put RDJ’s name out there for possible Oscar consideration. One of the filmmakers behind ‘Endgame,’ Joe Russo mentioned the actor deserves some sort of Academy recognition for his role as Tony Stark in the MCU.
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Now, there are probably a good number of folks reading this and immediately rolling their eyes. “Iron Man is not an Oscar-worthy performance!” they’re thinking. On paper, you’re absolutely right. Downey, Jr. doesn’t reinvent the wheel as Tony Stark. Hell, half the time you wonder if he’s even acting at all with the way that the character and RDJ have seemingly become one and the same. But there’s also no denying that Downey, Jr’s impact in his role in the various Marvel Studios films is hard to quantify accurately. Name another performance this year that reduced the entire audience to tears?
That being said, it’s highly unlikely that RDJ or anyone from ‘Endgame’ will get an Oscar nom, minus the visual effects folks. It required the stars to align for “Black Panther” to get recognition earlier this year. And as much as ‘Endgame’ is a great superhero film, it’s no “Black Panther.”
But, perhaps during the Oscar telecast in 2020, RDJ can go on stage and get a little recognition? Even if it’s just courtesy applause for a job well done.
