RDJ Hints At 'Iron Man' Retirement

Robert Downey Jr. is GQ's May coverboy -- a fairly routine occurrence since he became one of the world's most popular and successful actors with the release of Iron Man in 2008. And a large portion of his interview is dedicated to recounting the rough days, the times when Robert seriously contemplated quitting showbusiness entirely.

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And while he's reveled in every opportunity the last 5 years have afforded, Downey makes it clear that he's looking to retire his superhero cape sooner rather than later. Metaphorically speaking, that is.

He wonders, "How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow up are actually fun? I don't know. I don't know. Right now I don't have a contract to do anything, and I did for the last five years."

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And while the second Avengers movie could feature the "death" of Tony Stark as we know him, RDJ makes it clear that no one will take that passing tougher than him! "At whatever point I'm done with this, 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. It so came out of kind of relative obscurity as this second-tier character from the Marvel universe, and I feel I was part of making it something more."

For more from Robert's interview with GQ, click here. Iron Man 3 opens on May 3.