Elon Musk is often compared to the character Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel movies. However, it seems that the actor himself is not too happy with «cosplay» and believes that the head of Tesla and SpaceX needs to «control his behavior more».
«I’ve only met him a few times, and I just wish he had a little more control over his behavior,» Downey Jr. said in a New York Magazine podcast.
In fact, comparing Musk to Tony Stark is not unfounded. In 2016, Iron Man «director Jon Favreau said that the billionaire «influenced some elements of Downey Jr.’s character on the screen, and the actor «spent some time with the businessman» to better understand his role.
The director also said that some scenes for «Iron Man 2» were filmed at SpaceX facilities, and that he «maintained a friendship» with Musk after the movie (Elon even made a brief cameo in the film).
As for the relationship between Downey Jr. and Elon, it seems to have deteriorated somewhat since then. In other interviews, the actor criticized the billionaire’s idea of colonizing Mars.
«This idea — “Everything is fine, so we must get to Mars” — does not stand up to my criticism», — Downey Jr. said.
In recent years, Musk has been increasingly embroiled in scandals — especially after his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and problematic changes to it, as well as his controversial statements about Covid-19 vaccination, conspiracy theories, and attacks on Ukraine (he offered to cede Crimea to Russia and hold repeated referendums in the occupied territories).
At the same time, Downey Jr. did not deny Musk’s contribution to the tech industry in the interview
«You have to agree with what Musk has done, what he is demonstrating, and why he is valuable», the actor says. «But today it’s hard to separate a person from their behavior».
Downey Jr. has completed his role as Iron Man in the 2019 Marvel movie «The Avengers: Endgame» however will return to the franchise as the supervillain Dr. Doom in the movies «Avengers: Doomsday» and «Avengers: Secret Wars».
Source: Business Insider, Independent