Home Entertainment Robert Downey Jr stopped his own Oscar campaign for Avengers: Endgame

Robert Downey Jr stopped his own Oscar campaign for Avengers: Endgame

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People generally don’t really need another reason to hate on a big corporation like Disney, but over the weekend the House of Mouse appeared to give them one anyway. With Avengers: Endgame being the biggest movie not just of this year but of all time, it’s only expected that Disney wants to extend that success beyond just box office earnings. As such, the studio has officially kicked off its “For your consideration” Oscar campaign for the movie. For the unfamiliar, these are not Oscar nominations, but merely a publicity push to get the Academy of Motion Pictures to notice particular contenders the studio feels should be taken into consideration.

That part all made a lot of sense. What didn’t was one massive glaring omission from Disney’s campaign, as per the studio’s own awards page:

Notice a missing name there? Many fans did as they were quick to anger on the internet over the fact that Robert Downey Jr. is nowhere to be found. The actor is the father of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with his portrayal of Tony Stark aka Iron Man being one of the most iconic and beloved characters of the last decade. And from his solo movie in 2008 up until his emotional ending in Avengers: Endgame, he’s turned in one great performance after another. As such, while most fans wouldn’t expect him to win an Oscar for Best Actor for this, he should at least be considered.

Anthony and Joe Russo, the co-directors behind Captain America: Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, certainly think so. Just last month they were singing Downey jr.’s praises in an interview with The Daily Beast:

I just want to stump for one thing, and that’s Robert Downey… We don’t make movies for awards. Yes, making this was exceedingly difficult. We made the two most expensive movies ever back-to-back. But I just want to stump for one thing, and that’s Robert Downey. I don’t know if I have ever seen — in movie history — a global audience react to a performance the way they did to Robert Downey in that movie. There were people bawling in movie theaters, hyperventilating. I mean, that is a profound performance, when you can touch audiences all over the world to that degree. We’ve never seen anything like that, and if that doesn’t deserve an Oscar, I don’t know what does.

Jon Favreau, who directed the first two Iron Man movies, felt the same, as he explained to Variety back in June:

He has my vote for sure. I think he was able to discover and explore dimensions of the character over the course of many, many films, which is a bit of its own category. But I have to say that if you look at, especially how it began and how it ended in his performances between the first one and ‘Endgame,’ there was a really thoughtful arc to the character, both in his performance and how all the filmmakers contributed to that character.

So who was to blame for Downey Jr.’s name not being put forward for awards consideration? Well, actually he was.

Howard Stern recently had Downey Jr. on his Sirius XM talk show as a guest and expressed his frustration about learning that the actor wasn’t even being considered, saying “Because it’s a superhero movie they turn [up] their nose at it. The performance is excellent. It’s a totally believable character.” That’s when Downey Jr. explained that his omission had absolutely nothing to do with Disney.

I’m so glad you brought this up because there was some talk about [an Oscar campaign]. And I said, ‘Let’s not.’

It’s as simple as that, I guess. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Academy can’t still nominate Downey Jr. for an Oscar, it just means there won’t be a push from Disney to get that done. Ironically, this may be for the better.

Back in 2009, the actor had been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Tropic Thunder but ended up losing to Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. If Downey Jr. were to be nominated for Best Actor this time around, he will more than likely be going up against Joaquin Phoenix for his incredible portrayal of the same Batman villain in Joker. And he would probably lose again. Having Iron Man constantly being beaten by the Distinguished Competition surely can’t be good for Marvel’s image.

Last Updated: October 10, 2019

20 Comments

  1. I mean sure his performance was great. But it most certainly isn’t Oscar-worthy.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      October 10, 2019 at 09:30

      I dunno, I really thought it was worthy of recognition. Then again, I don’t give two shits about the Oscars, so we, the movie viewers and fans, can just know which performance was the most stellar

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        October 10, 2019 at 10:04

        In a per movie basis, probably not, but as a single character over the span of 10 years?
        You’d probably find it hard to find someone more convincing.

        But if he gets an oscar for Endgame, it would be like DiCaprio getting it for the Revenent.

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          October 10, 2019 at 10:24

          Agreed

          Reply

    • GooseZA

      October 10, 2019 at 09:30

      Agreed.

      Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    October 10, 2019 at 09:30

    If I was working for the academy I’d snub everyone on the list and give just RDJ a nomination. Because apparently he’s the only one that doesn’t love the smell of his own farts.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      October 10, 2019 at 09:30

      [looks at own butt]
      But my fart-bombs are fantastic! It makes the eyes water and everything!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 10, 2019 at 09:30

        Send your CV to Disney. NOW

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          October 10, 2019 at 09:39

          VP of farts!

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            October 10, 2019 at 09:39

            (also known as quality control chairman)

  3. Kromas

    October 10, 2019 at 09:46

    His performance as Iron Man is far more believable than most “Best Actor” Oscar winners.

    I think he sorta needs to get the lifetime achievement award.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      October 10, 2019 at 09:56

      Really a role model for getting your shit together and doing something with your life

      Reply

      • Pennywise The Dancing Clown

        October 10, 2019 at 09:56

        Also attractive as all heck!

        Reply

    • Matthew Holliday

      October 10, 2019 at 10:04

      They do make a good point when they say that a global audience hasnt reacted to any single character like they have with RDJ.
      And yeah, its not a “Oscar by numbers” kind of movie, where the social agenda is shoved so far down you throat you dont even have time to taste it.

      His performance in the MCU has just been plain good, he’s… convincing… without all the frippery that goes into most oscar type performances.

      Reply

  4. Dresden

    October 10, 2019 at 09:46

    He seems like a really humble guy now after seeing that amicable response he made about the whole Martin Scorcese/ MCU debacle.

    Reply

    • Kromas

      October 10, 2019 at 09:46

      Yeah … he is right up there with Keanu Reeves.

      Reply

  5. G8crasha

    October 10, 2019 at 09:56

    You know, that statement:

    Let’s not.

    can be considered two ways:

    1. Let’s not talk about it because I am upset
    2. Let’s not push me as a potential nominee

    Just saying! At least that’s what I draw from the limited information in the article.

    Reply

  6. Original Heretic

    October 10, 2019 at 10:14

    I honestly haven’t given a crap about the Oscars ever since Russel Crowe lost out to Denzel Washington, and that was for his role in A Beautiful Mind. He was amazing in that.

    Reply

  7. BradeLunner

    October 10, 2019 at 10:24

    Man I just hope Silvestri gets the nod for that score, it’s right up there with the original Superman, back to the future and Indiana Jones themes, gives me goosebumps and makes me want to do stuff. It literally moves me

    Reply

  8. Darren Peach

    October 10, 2019 at 10:59

    His worthiness for the Best Actor nod is about as worthy as Black Panther was for Best Picture…

    Reply

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