Robert Downey Jr. Responds To Quentin Tarantino's Diss of Marvel Cinematic Universe & Reveals What He Misses Most About MCU

Robert Downey Jr. had a measured response to the latest diss of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The 57-year-old Iron Man actor played a central role in the MCU for years before dying onscreen in 2019′s Avengers: Endgame. Despite his deep ties to the world, he had a level-headed reaction to director Quentin Tarantino‘s criticisms of the universe and its stars.

If you missed it, Quentin recently declared that the MCU actors are “not movie stars” and delivered a rebuke to the way that Hollywood highlights superhero movies.

Click inside to find out how Robert Downey Jr. responded to the claims…

Robert was asked about the comments during an interview with Deadline, and he took responsibility for some of what Quentin was saying.

“I think that we are in a time and place that I unwittingly contributed to, where IP has taken precedence over principle and personality,” he admitted. However, the actor added that it wasn’t that cut and dry.

“But it’s a double-edged sword. 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,” he said.

“I think that creatively it is a waste of time to be at war with ourselves. I think this is a time when everything is so much more fragmented now that I think you have this kind of bifurcation. 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. 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,” he explained.

“I’m not talking about trickle-down entertainment,” Robert clarified. “I’m just saying that things are always changing and I’m at a place in my life where I’ve now gone back to back, working with Chris Nolan on what was an exceptionally transformational experience for me; having been in pre-production post and bringing Sr. to market; and the next thing I’m doing is a series with my Mrs. and the director Park Chan-Wook, based on a Pulitzer book called The Sympathizer. It’s already a transformative, literally playing five different roles experience for me. So, I would just say, before we cast aspersions on each other — undergo your own renaissance and see if it doesn’t change your mind a little bit.”

“Reinvent yourself before you decide that somebody else doesn’t know what they’re doing or that something is keeping you from doing your best, or that something is better than something else,” he added.

On the topic of the MCU, Robert also revealed what he missed from the world now that he is no longer in it.

“Being in the trenches with Kevin Feige throughout; the beginning, with Jon Favreau, it’s like a beautiful dream now; the middle, with Shane Black on Iron Man 3, we’d just had Exton and shot it mostly in Wilmington NC,” he reflected. “It was idyllic and subversive. And The End, when I realized I’d made so many close friends in the MCU cast, and the Russo Brothers helping me embrace Tony’s arc.”

Robert is not the only MCU star to respond to Quentin.

Simu Liu hit back at the comments and Samuel L. Jackson issued his own response.