Marvel’s Kevin Feige Says Robert Downey Jr. Will Not Return As Iron Man
Written by djfrosty on December 4, 2023
Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
Weeks after rumors began circulating that Marvel Studios was bringing back the OG Avengers such as Iron Man and Captain America to help steady the struggling MCU, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has confirmed that they have no intention on bringing back your favorite superheroes (damn it!).
In an interview with Vanity Fair for a profile on Robert Downey Jr., Feige broke the news (and the hearts of comic book nerds worldwide) that Robert Downey Jr.’s iteration of Iron Man was officially a wrap. He also shared that they wouldn’t be revisiting his character in any future projects saying: “We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” before adding, “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
Well, so much for that. The role meant so much to RDJ that he was even hesitant to get back into character after filming for Avengers: Endgame wrapped up.
Variety reports:
Downey was reluctant even to do reshoots and redo a single line of dialogue, Stark’s last, for Endgame. “We’d already said tearful goodbyes on the last day of shooting. Everybody had moved on emotionally,” Joe Russo says. “We promised him it would be the last time we made him do it—ever.”
“That was a difficult thing for him to do, to come back to pick up that line,” Anthony Russo adds. “When he did come back, we were shooting on a stage directly opposite where he auditioned for Tony Stark. So his last line as Tony Stark was shot literally a couple hundred feet from his original audition that got him the role.”
Robert Downey Jr. was indeed… Iron Man.
Now that Feige has pretty much killed any notion of an Iron Man return, fans have begun to wonder if another actor will pick up the mantle as an Iron Man from a different reality as Marvel’s latest multiverse saga has left the door open for such an notion. There were rumors that Tom Cruise (the original choice for 2008’s Iron Man) would suit up as Tony Stark at some point, but it doesn’t seem like that will ever actually materialize at this point.
With the last few MCU movies struggling both at the box office and with its fan base, Kevin Feige knows he has his work cut out for him going into the future as interest in Marvel movies has plummeted in recent years. And with fans only really excited about Deadpool 3, thanks to Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine, Marvel Studios is going to have to pull out a Hail Mary at some point to once again spark interest in their cinematic universe.
What do y’all think? Should Marvel bring back RDJ’s Iron Man or leave him retired for good? Let us know in the comments section below.