Robert Downey Jr. Declined an Oscar Campaign for Avengers: Endgame

Last week, Disney officially kicked off their Oscars campaign for Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, revealing their “For Your Consideration” lineup on the studio’s awards website. Many MCU fans were disappointed to find out that Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t included on the list for the Best Actor Category for his incredible and memorable performance as Tony Stark/.

When asked about this during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Downey explained that Disney wasn’t the one who decided not to include him in Endgame‘s Oscars campaign, revealing that it was his decision not to participate in the lineup.

“I’m so glad you brought this up because there was some talk about and I said let’s not and because I’m much more like you than you might really want to believe. I listen to the show and I agree with most all of your opinions, varied though they may be. Occasionally, you’ll go on some tributary trail of thought I’ll go like ‘oh that’s not how I see it, but I love that you see it that way,” Downey said.

He also gave his opinion on director Martin Scorsese’s recent controversial comments on Marvel movies, revealing that he appreciates Scorsese’s criticisms. “It’s his opinion. I mean it plays in theaters. I appreciate his opinion because I think it’s like anything. We need all of the different perspectives so we can come to center and move on.”

Walt Disney Studios have submitted 11 categories for the film’s For Your Consideration campaign including: Kevin Feige for Best Picture; The Russo Brothers for Best Director; Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for Best Adapted Screenplay; Jeffrey Ford and Ace Matthew Schmidt for Best Film Editing; Charles Wood and Tonja Schurmann for Best Production Design; Judianna Makovsky for Best Costume Design; Tom Johnson, Juan Peralta and John Pritchett for Best Sound Mixing; Shannon Mills and Daniel Laurie for Best Sound Editing; Dan Deleeuw, Matt Aiken, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick for Best Visual Effects; and Alan Silvestri for Best Original Score.

Avengers: Endgame is now officially the highest grossing film of all time, dethroning Avatar with a $2.8 billion gross worldwide. It had also shattered records when it opened day-and-date April 26 with $1,223.6M globally, including $357.1M and $866.5M internationally. It crossed the $1B mark in just 5 days and the $2B mark in 11. Currently, the film is the #1 domestic and international release of all time, with just under $1 billion and $2 billion respectively. It’s the #1 release of all time in 25 territories, and the #3 highest-grossing film of all time in China with $629M.