This is What makes Robert Downey Jr. a compelling Iron Man

Allow me to take you back to 2015, to a press conference for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron.

All the stars are present and the journalists begin with their queries. After around 10 minutes, someone asks Robert Downey Jr a question.

And Downey Jr, in all his infinite sardonicism, quips “I must be mellowing with age, but I want to say this very clearly. The next time I’m not asked the first question, I’ll f***ing walk out.”

Downey with Evans & Hemsworth

And with that one slyly delivered sentence, Robert Downey Jr now owns the entire room. They are at his mercy.

He is a showman extraordinaire. And in the world of show business, that carries tremendous currency.

That brief moment, and a sea of similar situations, demonstrates one undeniable fact - Downey Jr has a bottomless reservoir of charisma.

You can't buy it, you can't make it. And you can't fake it. You either have it or you don’t. And Downey Jr has it. Boy, does he have it.

And he pours all of that refined charisma into Tony Stark, and as a result, the character courses with liquid electricity.

Smooth as silk, sharp as a tack, quick to quip, and radiating unbridled magnetism.

Downey in Avengers Endgame

Downey Jr’s interpretation of Tony Stark can be loathed or loved. After all, artists are slaves to the whims of subjectivity.

But it cannot be ignored or sidelined. It burns too bright and has done for too long. You can’t ignore the Sun.

Even now, here at the end of Tony Stark’s sojourn in the MCU, and after all that the franchise has accomplished, Downey Jr’s decade-spanning performance remains the crown jewel of their bountiful treasure.

And even if it were a crown of thorns, Downey Jr would be the solitary rose.

Downey Jr is one of the last of a dying breed. He is a movie star. They are a rare species, pushed to the brink due to an ever-evolving cinematic landscape.

He is also a tremendous actor. And when you put those two together, you best prepare to take in the fireworks.

There is a time for everything. The 2010s were the time of Superhero cinema, and they were the time of Robert Downey Jr, the herald-in-chief of a rapidly surging genre.

Marvel erected a $22 billion gold-plated house of cards on the back of his performance. And with his departure, he has left a hole that no one is equipped to plug.

But a thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts. And that’s the hero gig; part of the journey is the end.

What a journey it was though. What a performance it was. What a character it was. And what an actor Robert Downey Jr is.

You can end his character’s journey, you can take away his contract, and you can take away all his tricks, toys, and awards.

But one thing you can’t take away – Robert Downey Jr IS Iron Man.