Ironman will lose to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in Joker but that’s down to Robert Downey Jr. and his choice of roles.
For this year’s Oscar 2019, we have two main contenders, Ironman aka Robert Downey Jr. and Joker aka Joaquin Phoenix for the Best Actor. Robert Downey Jr. will lose to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in Joker. Period. Disney has tried its best to make Downey win a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Avengers: Endgame, but it’s nowhere near to Joker levels.
The Oscars are a few months away. But with the film festival season underway, it’s already time to start the campaigning. Both Disney and Warner Bros. are eyeing the prize for their comic book movies.
Ironman and Joker at Oscars: A comparison
Avengers: Endgame was the biggest cinematic event of 2019. It also marked the end to some of the original Avengers such as Captain America, Black Widow, and Ironman. Disney officially began the Avengers: Endgame Oscar campaign by scheduling Academy screenings for the film. The movie is the highest-grossing film of all-time.
On the other hand, Joker is one of the best films of this year that screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Joaquin Phoenix aka Joker might actually win an Oscar for his role which is surely a better contender than Downey’s Ironman.
Other than Robert Downey Jr., there is a lot of competition in the Best Actor race, which is insanely crowded this year. Stars like Robert De Niro to Eddie Murphy, in flashy roles, are battling for the trophy.
Unlikely that Ironman will win the Oscar
Disney for this year Oscar is aiming to win Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and other categories, but it could be difficult for Robert Downey Jr. to win Oscar for the role of Ironman over Joker. Unlike Avengers: Endgame, Joker is a standalone movie that is proving to be a force to be reckoned with all by itself.
Joker will earn a spot in 2020’s Academy Awards nominations, where it could meet with Iron Man and take the Oscar away from Marvel’s hero. While Marvel fans would undoubtedly love to see Endgame score a major Oscar nod, there’s still a long way to go. Moreover, history is not on the film’s side.
The kind of Superheroes Academy likes
Downey’s performance in Avengers as Iron Man was powerful and the core of some of the most emotionally charged moments in the film. The Academy is not quite fond of superhero films in general but there is a possibility.
This will be the 2nd loss and that too against an actor who played the Joker.
Robert Downey has lost before also from Joker (Heath Ledger) in Oscar for the best supporting role. In 2009 Downey was nominated for Best Supporting Actor as Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder. But he lost from Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight, where he famously played the Joker. That was the same year Downey joined MCU as Iron Man.
Will RDJ ever get another Oscar?
Downey has won his first Oscar in 1993 for Best Actor portraying Charles Chaplin in Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin. While Joaquin Phoenix has been nominated three times, firstly in 2001 for Gladiator, then in 2006 for Walk the Line, and in 2013 for The Master.
If Joker will win Oscar for the Best actor for this year, it would be one hell of news. This will be Joaquin Phoenix’s first Oscar and Robert Downey Jr. loss to another Joker. It looks like these are the strongest competitors this year as the film industry is full of surprises. The only thing, for now, is waiting patiently and sees if they even get nominated and win. It feels like more like for Phoenix than it does Downey Jr right now.
