Robert Downey Jr. Wants To Use Nanotech To Save The World

Marvel Studios/PA

Robert Downey Jr. has gone full Tony Stark, using his fascination with innovative technology for the good of the planet.

Speaking at Amazon’s Re:Mars conference, which took place in Las Vegas on the evening of June 4, the 54-year-old Iron Man actor announced the launch of The Footprint Coalition.

This brand new organisation is due to make an official launch before April 2020, and will be dedicated to the use of advanced nanotech for environmental good.

Getty

As reported by Variety, Downey Jr. made the following comments during his segment of the opening keynote:

Between robotics and nanotechnology, we could clean up the planet significantly, if not totally, in 10 years.

Revealing how he had received these cheering predictions by a roundtable of experts a few weeks ago, Downey Jr. quipped:

God I love experts. They’re like Wikipedia with character defects.

Marvel Studios

During his 20 minute talk, the Marvel legend reportedly spoke about his own personal panic over the current state of the environment, confessing he has not exactly been squeaky clean in regards to his carbon footprint:

I have this quiet sense of crisis, I’m a one-man carbon footprint nightmare colossus.

Following the launch announcement, a website for The Footprint Coalition went live.

At the time of writing, there isn’t too much information on the website. However, there is a newsletter you can subscribe to ensure you are ‘the first to know about next steps on this environmental journey’.

After signing up to the newsletter, you get the following confirmation email – entitled ‘Let’s Do This’ – which will make you feel like you are one of the Avengers being gathered for a mission:

Hi there,

Thank you for signing up to this humble email! I gave a presentation recently, at Amazon ReMARS. You may have seen it. And you may have heard me admit “I am a one-man carbon footprint nightmare colossus.”

Yeah, I know. I gotta work on that. We ALL have to work on our carbon footprints. And that is why we’re here, together. Hi there. Hello.

I’m going to take the next 11 months to properly plan this coalition, and I’ll keep you posted as we do it. Thanks for joining me as I get this off the ground!

With gratitude, and more to come,

—Robert Downey Jr.

Many fans have taken to social media to praise Downey Jr. for showing he is somewhat of a superhero both on and offscreen, channelling the spirit of Tony Stark from beyond the grave.

One person tweeted:

Tony Stark is not dead. I just read that he started the footprint coalition.

Another said:

[Downey Jr.] and Tony Stark are the same damn person. In real life and in movies, this dude continues to save our planet.

I for one am really looking forward to learning more about The Footprint Coalition, which sounds exactly like the sort of forward thinking initiative we need to see from those with such huge and influential platforms.

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Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.