“Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr. is the latest recent actor to address the criticism, after responses from Simu Liu and Samuel L. Jackson to the “Kill Bill” director’s remarks.
When discussing his career and working on his Netflix documentary “Sr.,” about his late father, the actor brought up the subject.
Downey Jr. said that assets like the MCU have become more important in the business than “personality,” and that he has contributed to that approach.
He said: “I think that we are in a time and place that I unwittingly contributed to, where IP has taken precedence over principle and personality. But it’s a double-edged sword.”
The “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “Sherlock Holmes” actors, on the other hand, pointed out that these films are only as excellent as the people on both sides of the camera.
Downey Jr. added: “A piece of IP is only as good as the human talent you get to represent it, and you can have some great IP even if it’s coming from an auteur or a national treasure of a writer-director, and if you don’t have the right kind of artist playing that role, you’ll never know how good it could have been.”
The actor went on to say that the argument around the MCU is pointless, adding: “I think that creatively it is a waste of time to be at war with ourselves.”
The actor also stated that he used to be annoyed by comments and talks like these, but he’s come to the conclusion that he’d rather “get over it.”
“Throwing stones one way or another … and I’ve had my reactions in the past when people said things that I felt were discrediting my integrity … I go, ‘You know what? Let’s just get over it. We’re all a community.'”
Downey Jr. also stated that when big blockbusters gross billions of dollars at the box office, it may help make room for smaller projects.
“There’s enough room for everything, and thank God for ‘Top Gun: Maverick and ‘Avatar: The Way of Water.’ That’s all I have to say. We need the big stuff to make room for films like ‘Armageddon Time,'” the actor reasoned.