Iron Man For Oscar? Disney Pushing RDJ and Others For Best Supporting Actor
This is pretty cool, even by Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark standards.
We Got This Covered is reporting that Disney is now campaigning for Robert Downey Jr. and others in the ensemble cast to earn Academy Awards for his part in Avengers: Endgame:
D23 EXPO 2019 – (The Walt Disney Company/Image Group LA)
There was a widespread belief that Disney would submit Robert Downey Jr. for consideration, given that Endgame marked his final performance as Iron Man. What’s surprising, though, is that the studio has announced it’s putting forward 12 other leading faces from the franchise up for Academy Awards alongside him. The “For Your Consideration” banner on Disney’s awards campaign website now lists 13 Endgame actors.
The site names Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Paul Rudd, and Don Cheadle for Best Supporting Actor consideration. Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, and Brie Larson are likewise listed for Best Supporting Actress. So, that’s pretty much everyone who had major roles in the movie and appeared for more than the final battle at the end. Excluding Rocket (motion capture by Sean Gunn, voice by Bradley Cooper).
Perhaps knowing it’s unlikely that Endgame‘s stars would get a Best Actor or Actress nomination, given how crowded those highly-coveted categories always are, Disney has decided to pitch the entire cast as an ensemble, with even Downey Jr. being listed as a Supporting Actor. This could prove to be a stroke of genius if it works. And if not, well, at least the studio gave it their best shot.
I am thrilled with this.
I love Robert Downey Jr. — I’ve written this previously — and I think he was really the heart of the MCU from Iron Man through Avengers: Endgame. He is a great “phoenix metaphor,” and, frankly, I would give a whole lot to see RDJ/Tony Stark take the stage to complete that “comeback.”
I imagine it would look like this:
Meanwhile, WGOT added:
Endgame is also up for the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Score.
So, even if Downey Jr. doesn’t take home any hardware, Endgame is undoubtedly in good shape to take home some Oscars. But that just wouldn’t be as much fun, now, would it?
