Farewell to Ironman: Could Avengers 4 be last time Robert Downey Jr dons armor?
What started out as an attempt to re-narrate the fan-favorite tales of Marvel Comics on the big screen with Robert Downey Jr's 'Iron Man' in 2008 has transpired into a series of hits, building a massive, inter-connected cinematic universe that we know as MCU. Under the direction of Jon Favreau, the first Marvel movie, in fact, set the tone for the numerous blockbusters that followed.
Over 10 years and nearly 20 movies, the iron-clad superhero has been a constant, appearing in almost every MCU film but it might be time the actor hangs up his armor and bids goodbye to the character of Tony Stark forever. No, we are not saying this but Iron Man writer, Bob Layton himself, who believes that Downey Jr. could be "done" with the role after all these years.
“I am only speculating, but I will guess that [Robert Downey Jr.] is done,” Layton told the Tampa Bay Times in a recent interview mulling over the possibilities of a final goodbye to the character in the upcoming, untitled Avengers 4 movie. "He has been doing the same role for over 10 years now, and I think as with any actor sometimes, it is time to move on," the Marvel Comics talent added.
Naturally, while discussing the end of Downey Jr's tenure as the billionaire-industrialist-genius-inventor-turned-superhero, the question arises if fans are looking forward to an impending (and read hurtful) death. Although, not in absolute lucid terms, but Layton seemed to drop hints that Stark's death might be one way of plotting Iron Man's exit from the current narrative.
"That is one way of doing it," he said adding, "I wouldn’t want to recast Tony Stark. Who would want to try to top Downey? But, if Tony doesn’t come back, they can put somebody else in the armor and start a new generation of Iron Man."
Unsurprisingly, Layton's thoughts coincide with Marvel Studio President Kevin Feige's plans for the future of MCU post phase III, which frequently makes mention of Young Avengers/heroes.
"We’ve always been fans of Power Pack and figuring that out. And yes. So…where and when we would see the evolution of that? I don’t know. And certainly — taking our cue from the comics as we always do — that’s why we wanted Cassie, a very young Cassie in this movie, to be inspired by her father. Just planting seeds,” said Feige.