Robert Downey Jr. enjoyed being a role model to children as Iron Man.
Robert Downey Jr.
The 54-year-old actor played the superhero in 10 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before Tony Stark was killed off in 'Avengers: Endgame' and his favourite thing about being Iron Man was seeing the excitement and wonder in the eyes of the kids he met and playing Iron Man made Robert want to be a better man.
Speaking at a media event for his new film, 'Dolittle', he said: "There's something about when a kid looks at you invests you with these magical properties. Because we're all so - I'll speak for myself - broken and imperfect, and just trying to do the right thing and stay out of my own way. But when you are idealised you realise, 'Oh, it's not an obligation ... but you get to stand up inside yourself and live as an example.' So it's really put me in check, because I hate disappointing youth."
Robert joked that he left the role because he wasn't making enough money from Marvel anymore.
He joked: "The contract was up, no problem. When the wires stopped coming through, I was more than ready to let go."
The 'Sherlock Holmes' star recently hinted that a return to the MCU as Iron Man was unlikely, but not impossible.
He teased: "Yeah, anything could happen. As far as I'm concerned I've hung up my guns and I'm good to let it go. I also think Marvel is on this journey now where they're trying a bunch of other stuff. I'm excited for them to see how it all goes. It's hard to project but we got a lot of other stuff we want to do.
"The war for me is over. I personally have alighted to greener pastures."
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