Actor Robert Downey Jr. revived his career as well as changed the landscape of filmmaking in Hollywood when he starred in the first MCU film Iron Man. The film was a career renaissance for the actor who had been dealing with personal issues and legal troubles till then. He went on to reprise the role in two sequels, four Avengers films, and multiple other appearances.
Downey Jr. had his seemingly last appearance in Avengers: Endgame, where Iron Man sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos. The demise of Tony Stark has been lingering throughout the franchise and with the multiversal storyline being explored by Marvel, the actor seems to have the potential to return. The latest scoop revealed that he has already agreed to reprise his role.
Marvel Is Planning On Bringing The Original Avengers Back Together
The MCU hit its peak in 2019 with the release of Avengers: Endgame. The film was the climactic event that was set up from the beginning of the franchise, starting with the Robert Downey Jr. starrer Iron Man. Downey Jr. along with other actors such as Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo formed the original Avengers.
While Evans and Downey Jr. exited the franchise after Avengers: Endgame, Johannson had one more appearance in the prequel Black Widow despite being killed in Endgame. Other cast members of the original Avengers have appeared only in a few films and series since then.
With a string of box office and streaming disappointments from Marvel, the studio reportedly discussed the potential of bringing back the original Avengers. According to Variety, the studio is currently grappling with the criticisms faced by recently released films and TV shows, as well as the charges faced by Jonathan Majors, who plays Kang, the franchise’s main antagonist.
Since the franchise has been exploring the ‘Multiverse Saga’ for the past three phases, it is still possible to either resurrect or show a multiversal variant of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Scarlett Johannson’s Black Widown, despite the characters’ deaths.
Robert Downey Jr. Has Reportedly Agreed To Come Back As Iron Man
While discussions regarding bringing back the Avengers to the MCU are still in their early stages, prominent X (formerly Twitter) user My Time To Shine Hello revealed that Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. has agreed to return in his role as Tony Stark in the MCU.
This news comes on the heels of the Variety report which mentioned that studio executives were planning a reunion with the stars but were hesitant about it as the salaries for the stars would be high. Robert Downey Jr. was reportedly paid $25 million for Iron Man 3 and it is only set to increase now that he has also starred in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
However, despite the news that he has returned, Robert Downey Jr. was once non-committal about his decision to reprise the role when asked recently by Extra TV. Talking about a potential sequel to Tropic Thunder with Tom Cruise, Downey Jr. responded to a question about Iron Man 4,
“Does he [Tom] want to do that? Tom, Don’t take it.”
Even Scarlett Johannson had expressed earlier that she was done with her role as Natasha Romanoff in the MCU.
