Robert Downey Jr. Says Marvel Is Some Of His Best Work, But It “Went Unnoticed Because Of The Genre”

Robert Downey Jr. is on his way to an Oscar nomination for “Oppenheimer,” and if you’re a betting person, well, I would already bank on the win, personally. Recently, when asked about the work he became obsessed with the most, he lumped in his turn as “Iron Man” in Marvel and his long run in the MCU, as just as fixated as he was with “Chaplin” and “Oppenheimer.”

READ MORE: Kevin Feige Confirms Robert Downey, Jr. Won’t Return To MCU & The Studio Won’t “Magically Undo” His ‘Endgame’ Fate

“There have been three times in my career when I became completely obsessed with the possibility of playing a role,” he told W Magazine this week. “First time was ‘Chaplin.’ Second time was Tony Stark, in ‘Iron Man.’ “And the third time—I got the trifecta, and you’re lucky if this happens a couple of times— was with Lewis Strauss, for ‘Oppenheimer.’ I knew a little bit about my character because I’m kind of a Cold War enthusiast. I don’t know why I’ve been obsessed with it.”

Now, Downey is doubling down, more than just saying he was as obsessed with his Marvel work than his other, more regarded and Oscar-nominated work, and saying his work as Tony Stark and Iron Man has been a bit overlooked and it’s up there with all his best work.

Downey appeared on Literally! With Rob Lowe this week and said long run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe marked some of the best acting of his career, but “it went a little bit unnoticed because of the genre.”

The conversation started around “Doolittle” flopping— it “just didn’t work,” he said. But after the heights of Marvel, Downey noted that a humbling knockdown to earth was good for him and what he needed.

“I felt so exposed after being in the cocoon of Marvel where I think I did some of the best work I will ever do, but it went a little bit unnoticed because of the genre,” Downey Jr. said. “I did myself a favor because the rug was pulled so definitively out from underneath me, and all the things that I was leaning on as opposed to what my understanding of confidence and security was, boy, did they evaporate. And it rendered me teachable.”

Of course, the winding conversation didn’t really come back to that moment, but given everything the actor has said of late, it’s starting to feel like he’s feeling that Marvel work went overlooked and possibly even ignored.

One might say this is dangerous territory to go to when you are campaigning for an Oscar, but Downey Jr. has this one in the bag and is really untouchable. His role in the Marvel movie is deeply underrated; he was the heart and soul of the MCU along with Chris Evans—and maybe this is why Marvel is currently lacking at the moment—but “Oppenheimer” reminded everyone, and soon, the Academy, you bet, that Downey Jr. could surprise, dazzle, go quieter and do things you forgot he could do.

Given that Marvel’s Kevin Feige said they’re not going to “undo” what they did with ‘Endgame’ and that emotional ending, if Downey Jr. doesn’t go back, then I bet we’re in for a wild ride of some of RDJ’s best performances of his career to come (now someone convince Tom Cruise to do the same).

If you want more of Downey Jr. commenting on his best films, you should check out this recent Vanity Fair video where he breaks down what he feels are his best roles, and you bet Iron Man/Tony Stark is in there. Meanwhile, listen to that entire RDJ/Lowe podcast below.