Thank goodness (or I’m sorry): Robert Downey Jr. is not returning as Iron Man
By Dan Selcke
Last month, there was a report about the flagging state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, once the undisputed two-ton gorilla in Hollywood and now a franchise in trouble that just put out a movie — The Marvels — which didn’t even make back its budget at the box office. As Marvel Studios tries to figure out what to do, one source had it that they’d been talking about the possibility of inviting back some of their old stars to reprise their roles, including Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, the guy who started it all.
When Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige was asked about this possibility a few weeks back, he seemed noncommittal. “I love Robert, he’s a part of the family,” Feige said. “But in terms of returning, we’ll have to see.” Fans could hold onto hope.
But now things have changed. Speaking about Downey Jr. for a new profile in Vanity Fair, Feige unequivocally said they do not want to bring back the actor as Tony Stark, since that would ruin his death scene from 2019’s Avengers: Endgame:
"We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way."
What accounts for Feige’s change in attitude? Maybe he hadn’t thought the issue all the way through when he sounded off a few weeks ago. Or maybe, after the rumor that they were thinking of having him back leaked, Downey Jr. called Feige on the phone and said, “No, no, not for a trillion dollars no, and also hell no, and no please.”
Whatever plans Marvel Studios has to right the ship, it will have to manage without Robert Downey Jr.’s help. If you were hoping he’d come back as Tony Stark, I’m sorry. If you didn’t want the memory of Iron Man’s death to be disturbed, congratulations. And if you don’t care one way or another and are ready for this superhero trend to be over, you can go sit at the cool kids table with Jodie Foster:
dark. Next. Jodie Foster hopes people will “be sick” of this whole superhero phase soon
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