Robert Downey Jr., most known for his role as Iron Man in the Marvel films, was born in Manhattan, New York, NY, on April 4th, 1965.
Downey began his acting career at the mere age of five, taking on the role of “Puppy” in the movie Pound. He would start his rise to stardom in the 1980s after playing a role in Weird Science, soon making him a member of the infamous Brat Pack. Downey’s career would rise, fall, and rise again in the years following.
Now for what all you Marvel Cinematic Universe lovers came here for, when RDJ became Iron Man!
In the Spring of 2008, RDJ would help create Phase One of the MCU, when he starred as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the first Iron Man film. He would reprise the role later that year, making a cameo in The Incredible Hulk.
2010’s Iron Man 2 would mark RDJ’s third appearance as the iconic character. The movie was a box office smash earning 623.9 million USD! It would be two years until we saw him adorn the red suit once again, although he did make an appearance as Tony Stark in Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant in 2011.
Downey along with his costars would close Phase One of the MCU in Spring 2012 with the release of The Avengers. In Spring 2013, RDJ would kick off the beginning of Phase Two with Iron Man 3; this would also be the last Iron Man movie.
RDJ would return to the big screen in 2015 in Avengers: Age of Ultron, his last appearance in Phase Two of the MCU. In 2016 he would kick-off Phase Three starring alongside Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War.
Summer 2017 we would see Iron Man hit the big screens once again in the movie Spider-Man: Homecoming. RDJ’s acting range is on full display here as he takes the Iron Man character and turns it into a mentorship role to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
In Spring 2018 we get to see our treasured Iron Man again in Avengers: Infinity War. The Summer Blockbuster would give us our first battle between Iron Man and Thanos, this scene would be an unfortunate foreshadowing as for what was to become of the coveted character.
The legendary Avengers: Endgame was released the following Spring. Avengers: Endgame devastated Iron Man fans, but that would not be the last time we saw Tony Stark, he appears in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. He is to also appear in Black Widow, releasing November 6, 2020
Although we all love RDJ’s role as Iron Man he has starred in countless great films, including,
- Less Than Zero (1987)
- Chaplin (1992)
- Natural Born Killers (1994)
- Zodiac (2007)
- Tropic Thunder (2008)
- Sherlock Holmes (2009)
- The Nice Guys (2016)
- Dolittle (2020)
There is no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. helped make the Marvel Cinematic Universe a staple of pop-culture! Starring in 11 MCU films, RDJ is a cornerstone of one of the most iconic franchises in film history! Downey’s acting overall is something made for the history books.