This is the year that Endgame takes place and the year that Tony Stark died in the MCU. With Phase 4 starting in February with the new AntMan movie, there are many rumors about many heroes returning; many want Tony Stark, AKA, Iron Man to return. However, after his last scene in Endgame, it is a lot more difficult than that. Marvel Studios would need to be very careful on how they were to bring back Tony Stark, and we will be talking about why.
Why Tony Stark May Not Return
Something that Marvel Studios has recently done is introducing actors again as a variant of the same character, which we saw first in Loki. This variant plot point then continued into other movies like Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, where there were many variants of actors from other movies. We also saw two more Peter Parkers in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but this introduced the idea of having the variants played by different actors. Many rumors have gone on to state that Iron Man might return in Avengers: Secret Wars, but many are also unsure Marvel would do that.
There is a condition under which Robert Downey Jr shouldn’t return for the role. If Robert Downey Jr did return as Iron Man in a form of a variant in the MCU, that would change how Tony Stark is viewed, and he has been a huge part of the MCU as himself for over 11 years and many movies. Tony Stark played by Robert Downey Jr has a huge legacy and so much riding on the shoulders of that character; yes, seeing another version of Iron Man would be amazing to see, but it just wouldn’t work.
However, if the MCU was to cast a different actor to be a variant of Tony Stark, that would be a better way to reintroduce the role without messing with the legacy of Iron Man. The character would almost be standing on its own two feet, which is what the franchise and fans would need.
