By most accounts, Robert Downey Jr is done with the MCU. His time as Iron Man helped launch one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, earned him legions of adoring fans and millions upon millions of dollars. Since Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame some have hoped that he would one day return from the dead and reprise the role. It seems unlikely, but they got quite a boost yesterday when Downey Jr made a remark that could leave the door open to that happening.
During a live video conference for the Avengers: Endgame quarantine watch party the Russos brothers spoke about their experience making the movie. Robert Downey Jr also made a surprise appearance, speaking about how he feels about it one year on from its release. At the end of their conversation, Joe Russo said: “maybe we’ll have to do this again someday.” Robert Downey Jr. responded by saying “The people will move us toward what they want”. You can see the exchange in this video at the 21-minute mark.
The most optimistic way of reading this is that Downey Jr is certainly open to the idea of playing Tony Stark again. He obviously knows that many fans would go nuts if he announced a return, so this is a way of acknowledging their desires. The pessimistic way of looking at it is that Downey Jr is simply being polite and non-committal at the end of the friendly conversation. After all, if he’d answered Russo with a flat “that’s not going to happen” it’d have looked pretty rude.
As far as I see it, there’s only one plausible way of Downey Jr to return. Marvel Studios Endgame objective was to give the Phase 1 characters an ending and wrap up some very expensive contracts. Their next couple of phases will introduce a new gallery of characters, with many new characters coming into the MCU in The Eternals, Shang-Chi, Black Widow and (eventually) Fantastic Four and X-Men.
If these new characters don’t stick the landing and the MCU box office begins to slide, then expect them to get Downey Jr’s agent on the phone and begin some seriously pricey talks. Until then, I wouldn’t expect Iron Man 4 anytime soon.
from We Got This Covered https://ift.tt/2YfsziF
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