Marky Mark Wahlberg has been a tough guy in approximately nine billion films, but he’s never been a comic book superhero like Christian Bale and Robert Downey Jr have. And it’s the latter he wants to replace as Iron Man, should he be given the chance.

Iron Man 3 Robert Downey Jr.Downey Jr. as Tony Stark - the Iron Man

"I would like to take over the Iron Man franchise for Robert Downey, [but] it's one of those things where I kind of like playing real people, [so] I've never been asked,” he explained to Yahoo! Movies. "Once I was kind of being talked about for the Robin role in Batman... somebody dodged a bullet!"

Even though Downey Jr.’s four-film deal for Iron Man expired with Iron Man 3, it’ll probably be a while before we see a Wahlberg donning the red and gold powered exoskeleton, as Downey Jr. is set to play him again for a further two Avengers films.

Check out the trailer for Wahlberg's 2 Guns

Wahlberg’s comments come as quite a surprise, especially given that there’s another high profile superhero up for grabs at the moment: Batman. Now that Bale has left his post as Gotham’s winged saviour, there’s an opening, and it could be Marky Mark-sized.

Both Ryan Gosling and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have both been mooted for the role; the former probably wouldn’t bite the carrot as he’s not a fan of franchise films, and the latter would just be weird. He’s currently being set up as Robin, and that’s one mighty promotion.

Wahlberg’s fresh from doing 2 Guns – the cop movie with a twist in which he stars with Denzel Washington. The critics weren’t enamoured with it, but it still managed to top the box office on its opening weekend, which means the studio will be happy. Possible sequel: 3 Guns?

The next time you'll see Wahlberg will be in Lone Survivor - the true story of American SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, who, against all odds, survived a Taliban onslaught when a mission went wrong. It is set for a limited release on December 27, 2013 and a wide release on January 10, 2014.

Mark Wahlberg Lone SurvivorThe poster for Lone Survivor