What If Christopher Nolan Directed The Avengers? Robert Downey Jr.'s Cheeky Take

"Oppenheimer" brought together the legendary talents of director Christopher Nolan and actor Robert Downey Jr. for the first time. But in another world, could Nolan's distinct cinematic flair have breathed life into one of Downey's superhero epics? Perhaps, but with one catch, according to Downey. 

Ahead of the release of "Oppenheimer," the two sat down with WIRED where they answered the internet's most searched questions about them. One question for the "Interstellar" director asked what would happen if Nolan had helmed the Marvel Studios film "The Avengers." Nolan's first thought of what he calls a "multiverse conundrum" is that Tony Stark/Iron Man would steal the thunder. "Having worked with you on 'Oppenheimer,' there'd probably be a lot too much of Tony Stark, you'd be running away with the movie a little bit," he told Downey.

The conversation then moved to Nolan's use of practical effects, which the filmmaker stated he would have used as opposed to the computer-generated imagery seen in the 2012 superhero film. With that, Downey playfully stated, "If Christopher Nolan had directed 'The Avengers,' we would still be shooting it." Nolan has more than proved his skills in superhero filmmaking with his acclaimed "The Dark Knight" trilogy. But imagining the Incredible Hulk fighting on the back of a Leviathan without CGI is a task that even Nolan might find too strenuous to pull off in reality. 

While Downey's comment was meant as a joke, his sentiments don't stray far off from Nolan's real concerns with working within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In an age where auteur directors are becoming a dime a dozen, Christopher Nolan remains one of the last remaining industry titans who gets what he wants from a studio. And it's that same meticulous attention to his craft that has the director hesitating to believe he'd fit into the modern era of superhero blockbusters. 

Nolan shared in a 2020 virtual conference presented by 92Y (via IndieWire) that his "Dark Knight" trilogy benefited from being made before the explosion of superhero movies in the mainstream. More than anything, it was the time given to each entry that he believes aided in the trilogy's freshness. "When we did 'Batman Begins,' we didn't know we'd do one and it took three years to do it and then four years before the next one," Nolan stated. "We had the luxury of time. It didn't feel like a machine, an engine of commerce for the studio. As the genre becomes so successful, those pressures become greater and greater. It was the right time." 

While the filmmaker doesn't hold ill will towards superhero movies themselves, with one notable exception, it's likely that his moviemaking style would not fare well in the multi-release template that studios such as Marvel and DC have honed in on over the last decade. But on the off chance that Nolan decides to take on another superhero movie in the future, fans of the acclaimed director are more than willing to see what he has in store.