Last month, Robert Downey Jr. finally earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his critically acclaimed performance in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” And while he’ll next be seen on the small screen in the HBO series “The Sympathizer,” the Oscar-winner, who seemed content to leave Marvel behind in recent years, is now potentially open to returning to the Tony Stark/Iron Man role that helped resurrect his acting career back in 2008. In an interview from an expansive profile from Esquire Magazine, the Marvel actor said he’d “happily” return to the MCU if given a chance while also praising Marvel studio head Kevin Feige.
When asked if he’d be open to returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future, the actor said, “Happily. It’s too integral a part of my DNA. That role chose me. And look, I always say, Never, ever bet against Kevin Feige. It is a losing bet. He’s the house. He will always win.”
While these comments aren’t in direct opposition to what Downey Jr. said in the past, they surely suggest someone less reluctant to tread that same territory again.
Feige, for his part, has said they would never undo Tony Stark’s death. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way,” he said last year.
That said, there are still many science-fictional ways to bring back Stark, despite the character sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame,” this is make-believe, after all.
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There is, of course, this vast and infinite concept that Marvel has already introduced in the universe with the multiverse; somewhere out there, there are an infinite number of Tony Stark’s out there. In the comics, Tony Stark has been an A.I. figure, and the possibility of Stark becoming a mentor figure to Riri Williams in the yet-to-be-released “Ironheart” series on Disney+ or to Don Cheadle in his upcoming War Machine movie “Armor Wars” could be potential narrative avenues to have the characters somehow reappear in some form or another.
As of now, there are no official plans to bring Stark back into the fold. Though there has been tons of speculation that the machinations of the multiverse could have the character return in either the fifth “The Avengers” or the “Avengers: Secret Wars” movies, both being penned by Michael Waldron (“Loki,” “Doctor Strange 2”). Both movies are currently without directors as “Avengers 5” lost Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi”), as he exited to focus on “Wonder Man” and “Shang-Chi 2.”
Given the openness of Downey Jr., it’s hard to imagine they won’t attempt to bring Downey back at least as a cameo in the next two “Avengers” movies, even if they’re just flashbacks or a sentient digital incarnation of the heroic figure. Still, even with the actor’s willingness to return, Feige’s original comments still ring true: Marvel might want to keep Stark’s death an impactful landmark in the films, and they may not want to mess with the magic they created with ‘Endgame.’