While promoting his new film "The Judge" at the Toronto Film Festival last month, Robert Downey Jr. revealed that there is currently no plan for a fourth "Iron Man" film, but during a recent interview with Deadline, the Oscar-nominated actor suggested that he is willing to do another installment of the box-office hit franchise if his good friend Mel Gibson will be the one to direct it.
"Marvel badly wants 'Iron Man 4' and you've said you aren't doing it. How about the idea you'll do that movie if Mel directs it?," asked Deadline.
"Correct...Why not? That movie would be bananas," answered the 49-year-old actor.
"He has changed so much," Downey said of Gibson, who has had trouble breaking back into Hollywood since being rejected by the industry after his infamous struggle with alcoholism. "Nobody should make a case for somebody who just wants forgiveness but hasn't changed, but he's a fundamentally different guy. I think it was just the very worst aspects of somebody's psyche being treated as though they were the blanket statement about a person."
"But honestly we are talking about a competitive business and it all comes down to this: because he is so gifted as a story teller and a director, I don't know that he requires some sort of mass forgiveness," the New York City native explained. "He has changed, but at the same time he's still Mel."
Downey had similar hardships going back into Hollywood because of high insurance premiums involved with hiring him related to his problems with addiction, Comicbook.com reported.
"He and I are so similar in so many ways," Downey told Deadline. "He really, honestly is the first to admit his character defects and also is just a great, great collaborative guy. I always say too that if you want to judge a man or a woman then look at their kids. He has the healthiest, happiest, most productive kids you could ever meet or know, and I'm fortunate to be friendly with several of them. He did a lot right, and there's stuff he taught me about parenting that didn't sink in at the time but have proven to be true."
Gibson and Downey became close friends while filming the 1990 action comedy film "Air America" together. In fact, the 58-year-old "Braveheart" actor provided the money for an insurance bond for Downey, which was very significant in getting him back into mainstream Hollywood.
After "Air America," the duo teamed up again in the 2003 musical comedy crime flick "The Singing Detective," which Gibson directed, according to Moviepilot.
As previously reported, Downey signed with Marvel and Disney for two "The Avengers" sequels. The first one is for "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which is set for a May 1, 2015 release, and the other is for "Avengers 3," which will hit the theaters in 2018. However, the actor was initially reluctant to reprise his role as Tony Stark further than that.