Robert Downey, Jr. Discusses Retiring The Iron Man Suit

Robert Downey, Jr. has been playing the character of Tony Stark for three Iron Man movies, one Avengers movie with another Avengers movie written and he's looking toward exiting the mecha-armor for good -- thanks in part to an ankle injury he suffered doing an on-set stunt.

"It got me thinking about how big the message from your cosmic sponsor needs to be before you pick it up," Downey commented. "How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun?"

The Iron Man star even compares his superhero career with that of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Brady has recently signed a remaining three year contract which will take him to his retirement. "I heard Brady signed on for three more years with New England, and then he's done being a QB, because he'll be 40. I'm 47, and I'll be 50."

Downey can't imagine what it will feel like when it's all said and done. "I'm going to have a bit of a crisis, because I probably haven't even fully ingested how much I've enjoyed it, how much it's meant."

Source: THR via GQ