Robert Downey Jr. thinks superhero films are getting ''a bit old''.

The 49-year-old 'Iron Man' actor has described the superhero genre as ''fraying around the edges'' because they are overexposed in the cinema during the summer.

Talking to The Sunday Telegraph's Seven magazine, he explained: ''Honestly, the whole thing is just showing the beginning signs of fraying around the edges. It's a little bit old. Last summer there were five or seven different ones out. I feel that they are critiqued by a different metric to any other movie.

''It's like a bunch of really good dancers and you're looking for the one who keeps changing her leg warmers. They make a lot of money.''

Despite his claims that the genre is ''old'', Robert - who first starred as the superhero Iron Man in 2008 - admitted that he felt ''bombed'' when he discovered that the film studios didn't intend to make a fourth 'Iron Man' film.

When asked if a sequel was in the works, Robert shared: ''Not that I'm aware of. 'Avengers' was another opportunity but they're not talking about 'Iron Man 4'.

''I was kind of bombed out the tell you the truth, but maybe they've got bigger fish to fry and I trust their overall vision. The funny thing about these genre movies is you'd think they were national secrets.''