Robert Downey Jr calls out Elon Musk for ‘cosplaying’ as Tony Stark

'I wish he would control his behaviour more'

As the richest man on the planet, it's fair to say Musk fancies himself as a bit of an agitator in business, as the man in charge of corporations such as Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly known as Twitter).

It's not difficult to see the similarities between the real-life billionaire and the most famous rich man in comic books, Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man.

This was of course the role that Downey Jr made his own over ten years playing the character in the Marvel films.

During a recent appearance on the On With Kara Swisher podcast, the actor was asked about Musk.

When Swisher said she thought the Tesla CEO was trying to emulate the Marvel character, Downey Jr replied: "I’ve only met him a few times, I just wish that he would control his behaviour a little more."

Back in 2016, Iron Man director Jon Favreau revealed he had taken some inspiration from Musk when he establishing the Tony Stark persona for the 2008 film.

Meanwhile, screenwriter Mark Fergus said in a 2022 interview with New York Magazine that the Downey Jr's character had been based on a mix of Musk, Donald Trump and Steve Jobs.

Downey Jr said that whilst Musk may have been an inspiration behind his on-screen portrayal of Stark, the similarities are a bit more nuanced now.

Whilst Musk is often praised for the progress SpaceX has made in the world of space exploration, in recent years he has attracted criticism for his management of social media platform X.

The billionaire has been accused of enabling the spread of misinformation through his management of the platform, and this year openly voiced his support for Donald Trump in the US presidential election. This has prompted more criticism of him for trying to influence the outcome of the election.

Addressing this, Downey Jr said: "This idea of ‘It’s all OK because we’ve gotta get to Mars’ doesn’t really hold water with me."

"You have to look at all that [Musk has] done that demonstrates why he’s valuable.

"Nowadays separating the individual from their behaviour 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."

Earlier this year, it was announced that Downey Jr would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a new role as Fantastic Four arch nemesis Doctor Doom.

He will play the supervillain in the 5th and 6th Avengers films, titled Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars. 

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to be released in May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars arriving the following year.