By now, most people know Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark met his end in Avengers: Endgame, and what an end it was. After kickstarting the entire MCU with Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. got the send-off he deserved. With that said, some have wondered if he might make a return and, now, a Marvel Studios bigwig has given some thoughts on the possibility of resurrecting him.
No fan likes to see their favorite character die. When they do, we too often wish the writers would come up with a clever way to bring them back somehow. In this case, it would mean bringing back Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. Unfortunately, Marvel Studios’ Victoria Alonso recently told Clarín that it’s unlikely at this point:
Tony Stark is dead. And that's our story. Resurrection I do not know, I do not know how we would do it. It seems to me that the story of Tony Stark is told by us. Hence, he has left his inheritance, who he is for example in Spiderman, because Peter Parker has been a false son, so you see a lot of what Tony Stark would have been in Peter Parker. And it seems to me that you see that constantly in how one person influences the other. But no, at the moment we don't have any plans.
Well, that’s fairly cut and dry. It doesn’t look like there are any big plans to bring Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark back into the MCU. As much as I would love to have him back, it might be for the best, as letting him rest in peace would honor the impactful ending the Russo Brothers provided for him in Avengers: Endgame.
Since Endgame, many have been hoping to see Downey return to the franchise in some capacity. This time last year, fans got their hopes up, as it appeared that he would be returning in another capacity. At the time, Jeff Goldblum, while talking about his work as the Grandmaster on the upcoming animated series What If…?, seemed to confirm that Robert Downey Jr. would reprise his role for the show. This, however, was later shot down, with trades saying that Goldblum misspoke.
If they ever wanted to bring Robert Downey Jr. back to play Iron Man, they would likely have to pull off some multiverse or time-travel jiu-jitsu. The multiverse aspect is already in the works with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. But it doesn’t sound like they’re going to use that just yet to bring Robert Downey Jr. back.
Again, I think it makes more sense to let Robert Downey Jr. move on with his career and end his stint as Tony Stark on a high note, similar to what Hugh Jackman did with Logan. I bet we’ll get a new version of Iron Man some time in the future, but when that happens is anyone’s guess.
