Robert Downey, Jr. Is "Surprisingly Open-Minded" About A Marvel Return

It’s not crazy to say the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t reached “Avengers: Endgame” heights over the past five years. Phases 4 and 5 have largely been seen as letdowns. So, it’s not all that shocking that fans are clamoring to know if Marvel Studios will attempt to bring back some of the OG Avengers to help steer the ship. Well, two of the OGs are seemingly open to it happening.

Speaking as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors, Robert Downey, Jr. talked about the idea of returning as Tony Stark in a future Marvel film. And perhaps a bit surprisingly, considering Iron Man had such an impactful end on screen, RDJ is more open-minded than ever before about a return.

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“It’s just crazily in my DNA. Probably the most like-me character I’ve ever played, even though he’s way cooler than I am,” teased Downey, Jr. “I’ve become surprisingly open-minded to the idea.”

So, if Iron Man is willing to return, what about the other characters. Well, Jeremy Renner is doing the rounds for “Mayor of Kingstown” Season 3 and was asked on Happy. Sad. Confused. if he would be interested in a return. And he’s totally open to the idea, as long as the story is good.

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“Maybe if enough time goes by–I think it has, at this point,” said Renner. “Also, what’s the point of the narrative or the story? These are beloved characters. We spent 23 films together, as a collective. To start it up again, what is the reason? Where’s the story?”

He added, “I’m always down for it. I think it would be great. I think it would be awesome. I would love to be with everyone again.”

Now, the hard part is to come up with a story that would make sense in terms of having everyone return. Luckily, for Marvel Studios, ‘Secret Wars’ is the big film on the horizon which would seemingly have a story strong enough to warrant a return. For those unaware, “Avengers: Secret Wars,” if it follows a rough outline of the same comic book story, would offer a chance for various multiversal versions of our favorite characters to make their debut. Our Iron Man could still be dead, but RDJ could play an Iron Man from another universe. It’s very possible.

And that is really what fans are hoping for. Plus, if it’s done correctly, then we could easily see ‘Secret Wars’ turn the MCU ship around and head for record-breaking box office again.