Thousands Of Marvel Fans Sign Petition To Get Robert Downey Jr That Oscar Nod

Marvel Studios

After its stonking performance at the Box Office, there’s no doubt Avengers: Endgame is the biggest movie event of this year.

Worldwide, it has so far grossed almost $3 billion, and though it’s only October, there’s not much chance another film is even going to compare to Endgame when it comes to box office performance.

However, as we all know, biggest doesn’t always mean best. And despite it raking in the big bucks and marking the culmination of more than a decade’s work for countless people both behind and in front of the camera, movies like Endgame don’t always get the recognition some people think they should when it comes to award season.

Marvel Studios

As a result, some fans have taken to the forum they know best – that of the online petition – to support Robert Downey Jr. for the 2020 Oscar for Best Actor because, after more than a decade playing the character, they believe RDJ deserves the recognition.

The petition reads:

We, the undersigned, were so moved by Mr. Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame that we believe he is unquestionably deserving of the Academy’s Award for Best Actor. The creative choices he made and immense depth of emotional energy he infused in Tony Stark forged an unforgettable experience for the viewers.

Though we acknowledge that our efforts can in no way directly influence the Academy’s election process, we do hope that this document will serve as a reminder to Academy members that Mr. Downey’s powerful performance has indeed directly influenced innumerable lives across the world.

Thank you for your consideration.

Marvel Studios

So far, more than 2,000 people have signed the petition. It was started months ago, though it has picked up momentum in recent days after the news Disney was not going to push support for RDJ in their For Your Consideration campaign, which aims to remind the academy of their achievements and what they think is award-worthy, as comicbook reports.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo evidently support the idea Downey Jr. should get the Oscar nod.

As they told the Daily Beast:

I don’t know if I have ever seen—in movie history – a global audience – react to a performance the way they did to Robert Downey in that movie. There were people bawling in movie theaters, hyperventilating.

That is a profound performance, when you can touch audiences all over the world to that degree. We’ve never seen anything like that, and if that doesn’t deserve an Oscar, I don’t know what does.

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Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.