Well, this just gets more interesting…doesn’t it?
In tit-for-tat fashion, Robert Downey Jr. is willing to go forward with ‘Iron Man 4’ if it is directed by his longtime friend Mel Gibson.
Robert Downey Jr. has suggested in an interview with Deadline that he would be willing to go forward with Iron Man 4 if it were to be directed by his longtime friend Mel Gibson.
In the interview it seems like the interviewer has got Downey pinned in a corner, providing the narrative idea that Downey doing Iron Man 4 for Gibson would be a way of repaying Gibson for the help he provided to Downey during his self-destructive days. Downey never actually commits to the idea, offering – in true Downey Jr. fashion – jovial responses such as “correct” and “why not”.
Gibson has been finding it hard to break back into Hollywood and find the same levels of success he has before being ostracized by his alcoholism and anti-Semitic comments back in 2004. Similarly, the same thing happened to Downey who also has trouble breaking back into Hollywood due to the high insurance premiums when it came to hiring him, which was down to his problems with addiction. Downey and Gibson became friends whilst filming Air America together and it was Gibson that put up the money for an insurance bond for Downey which was heavily instrumental in getting him back into the mainstream, …eventually leading on to become one of Marvel’s biggest stars with Iron Man.
Therefore, if Downey owes Gibson anything, it should be a debt of gratitude. Downey speaks about how much Gibson has changed and when he was honoured with an American Cinematheque award, even publically called on the industry to forgive Gibson.
As plausible as this sounds, Downey has also mentioned that he doesn’t want to return for a 4th Iron Man. There is also the possibility that this could sway Downey to return for another instalment of the Iron Man franchise. If we look at it this way, it was Downey that had the upper hand in getting Shane Black on directing duties for the 3rd film and now Black has a tonne of projects lined up.
It would be interesting to hear Kevin Feige’s opinion on the idea. Time will tell. We will keep you posted.
Todd Black
Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!
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