Since the first Iron Man movie kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2008, there have been several points where there was talk of Robert Downey Jr. finishing up as ol’ Shellhead. And now, the actor himself has been discussing the possibility of him leaving the Armored Avenger behind.

Speaking to News Corp Australia, RDJ explained, “I have to start over every time but I am starting over with a pretty solid base. I just never want to blow it for the last six or seven I have done by dropping the ball because I decided to go do it one more time. I just want to hang up my jersey before it’s embarrassing.”

He continued, “It’s this cynical thing. I could have said when the first Avengers came out: ‘It’s not going to get any better than that. Everybody stop!’ But to me it’s always about people and opportunities, like the Russos, who I adore.”

To date, Downey Jr as Stark has appeared in three Iron Man pictures, two Avengers efforts, butted heads with the Sentinel of Liberty in Captain America: Civil War, is soon to be seen mentoring Tom Holland’s Wall-crawler in this week’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, and even had a brief cameo in a post-credits scene for The Incredible Hulk. Previously, there was talk of the actor being done as Iron Man following Iron Man 3, then there was talk that Avengers: Age of Ultron would be his swansong, and then the same applied to Civil War.

When Downey Jr.’s time as Iron Man will come to an end is still up in the air right now, although he’s already confirmed for May 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and its May 2019 to-be-titled follow-up. Given that it’s already been said how that fourth Avengers effort will be the last appearance of certain members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, it seems like that may be the perfect time to write Stark out of the MCU if all parties decide upon having Iron Man step out of the spotlight.