Robert Downey Jr. had some thoughts on his iconic Marvel character, Iron Man, often being compared to Elon Musk.
The 59-year-old actor didn’t seem thrilled with some viewing the billionaire tech mogul as the real-world version of Tony Stark—the wealthy industrialist, brilliant inventor, and charismatic playboy behind Iron Man.
During a chat on the On With Kara Swisher podcast, the Hollywood star admitted he's only crossed paths with Elon a handful of times.
Highlights
- Robert Downey Jr. said he thinks Elon Musk should "control his behavior."
- The 59-year-old made the comments while answering a question about the tech billionaire "cosplaying" Tony Stark.
- Elon was previously described as "a very good friend of the Marvel family" by director Jon Favreau.
But that was enough for him to say that the Tesla tycoon needed to "control his behavior."
Robert Downey Jr. had some strong opinions when asked about Elon Musk "cosplaying" the fictional character Tony Stark, the man behind Iron Man
Image credits: Michael Buckner / Variety via Getty Images
Image credits: Michael Swensen/Getty Images
When the podcast host mentioned Elon “cosplaying” as Tony Stark, Robert said: “I’ve only met him a few times.”
“I just wish that he would control his behavior a little more,” he added.
While the Oscar-winning actor admitted that Elon has achieved a number of remarkable tech feats, he suggested that some of his statements and behaviors can be problematic.
Tony Stark is the wealthy industrialist, brilliant inventor, and charismatic playboy from the Marvel cinematic universe
Image credits: IMDB/Paramount
Image credits: IMDB
“This idea of ‘It’s all okay ‘cause we’ve gotta get to Mars’ doesn’t really hold water with me,” the actor said.
“You have to look at all that [Musk has] done that demonstrates why he’s valuable,” he went on to say. “Nowadays separating the individual from their behavior is a tough thing to do because hell is other people—and that has been hijacked in this information age, to divide us rather than allow for discourse, debate, and dialogue.”
Iron Man writer Mark Fergus previously spoke about how elements of Elon, Donald Trump, and Steve Jobs contributed to the creation of Tony Stark.
Iron Man writer Mark Fergus once said that Tony Stark was inspired by bits of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Steve Jobs
“[Musk], Trump, and maybe a little Steve Jobs. Trump was fun before he became president — he was actually kind of a goofy celebrity,” the writer explained to New York Magazine in 2022.
“Steve Jobs was always serious and angry; he never quite had that gift of the bulls---, the working the crowd that Musk has a real natural talent for. Musk took the brilliance of Jobs with the showmanship of Trump. He was the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance," Mark explained.
“I’m not sure we talked about too many other people; there are not many people like that around. It’s dangerous to be a celebrity businessman,” he added. “One scandal and it’s billions of dollars. People want their CEOs to shut up and be good, quiet figures who aren’t in the paper dating celebrities. Because shit can happen.”
The billionaire tech CEO was "the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance,” the writer said of Elon
Jon Favreau, who directed the first two films in the series, said Tony Stark’s character was based on the comic book, but agreed Elon was certainly involved in some of the character-building.
“It’s not based on him, it’s based on the comic book,” Jon said on a 2016 Recode Decode episode. “But Robert Downey, when we were prepping ‘Iron Man,’ said, ‘There’s somebody we should sit down and talk with.’”
Elon also appeared in a brief 10-second cameo in the 2010 film 'Iron Man 2'
"[He] said, 'This is a guy who can give us some insight into what it’d really be like to be Tony Stark,'" he added.
Elon also appeared in a brief 10-second cameo in the 2010 film 'Iron Man 2.'
“‘Iron Man 2,’ we filmed at SpaceX,” Jon said. “He let us film there for free. He’s been a very good friend of the Marvel family there, and we’ve maintained a friendship with him.”