Even thoughIron Mandied at the end ofAvengers: Endgame, it is difficult for MCU fans to imagine the giant superhero franchise without Robert Downey Jr. in the mix. Many fans are holding on to hope the actor will continue to appear in the franchise in flashbacks and alternate reality roles, but during an episode of Smartless Podcaster, Downey confirmed that his Avengering days are over when asked how he is balancing family life and Marvel after Iron Man’s death.
“That’s all done.”
So it seems Downey will no longer be attached toMCU filmsin any capacity. This might ultimately be a good thing because as far as swan songs go, they really don’t get much better than saving the universe from the Mad Titan Thanos, as Iron Man did inEndgame.
The impact of Downey’s character on the MCU was so clearly felt that the next film in the franchise, afterEndgame, which wasSpiderman: Far From Home, dealt in large parts withIron Man’s legacy, and the struggles of Spider-Man to live up to it.
The next film in the MCU,Black Widow, was also rumored to have new scenes with Iron Man shown in flashbacks. Those scenes are now being reported as extras fromCaptain America: Civil Warthat did not make it into the final cut of that movie. So Downey does not appear to have filmed any new scenes as Iron Man.
Still, the actor has crafted a legacy within the MCU that he can be proud of, even thoughRDJ’s favorite movie in the Marvel franchiseis not one of theIron ManorAvengersfilms, but ratherBlack Panther, as the actor recently expressed while paying his respects to the late actor and fellow-MCU alum Chadwick Boseman.
“Black Panther is, hands down, it is the crowning achievement of the Marvel Universe, and I say that with all due respect to all the films that have been made, including my own. But it was the one where people got to vote with their ticket sales and say, ‘We require this overdue diversity, this is a meritocracy, or at least it should be, and this is a fantastic movie that has leveled the playing field’, and appropriately so.”
Moving forward, the MCU will have to find some way to fill the Iron Man-shaped hole in the hearts of fans. It was said that Captain Marvel is being set up as the new leader of the Avengers going forward, while Tom Holland’s Peter Paker/Spider-Man is often seen as the heir apparent to the massive audience appeal of Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Then there are the legacy Marvel Comics characters who are set to join the MCU soon, fromFantastic Fourto theX-Men. It is safe to say the franchise is in no danger of running out of popular characters, but Robert Downey Jr. will always have a special place in the hearts of fans that was consolidated since the first time Tony Stark wore the Iron Man armor back in 2008 and took off into the sky to fight terrorists. This comes fromHunt the Truth.
