Superhero movies are still incredibly popular on the big screen. However, while comic book characters never age, the actors playing them absolutely do. This means that at some point, an actor has to stop playing a character. Of course in the case of two of the biggest character endings in recent memory, Wolverine and Iron Man, we now know that the end isn't really the end.
Logan is generally viewed as Hugh Jackman's best work as Wolverine. It was also supposed to be the final movie playing the character. He would, of course, make a spectacular return in the recent Deadpool and Wolverine. In the recent Marvel Assembled documentary of the movie, available with a Disney+ subscription, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige says that he thought Logan's ending was amazing and that Marvel wanted to do something similar when it came time for Robert Downey Jr. to say goodbye to Iron Man. Feige said…
I had always been very vocal with Hugh that he had one of the best endings of any fictional character ever. And I told him that is so amazing, what he was able to accomplish in Logan, that's what we were striving for with Robert Downey Jr. in Endgame, to give this incredible iconic fictional character an amazing ending.
Most would probably agree that Robert Downey Jr's ending in Avengers: Endgame is truly special. Iron Man has probably the best character arc of any character in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. Of course, like Hugh Jackman, it turns out that Downey isn't quite done with his movies either. While he is only set to play Tony Stark again at Disneyland, he will be back in the MCU as well by playing Doctor Doom, but even with that, I have concerns.
One of the things that has always excited me about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the fact that time passes. Comic book characters can see big changes happen but they can easily be undone and things returned to the status quo. One way or another, that's not the case with comic book movies. Roles will need to be recast, or actors will age, and either way, things will change in a permanent way. But it seems studios are fighting that as long as they can.
Hugh Jackman says it was his idea to stop playing Logan and also his idea to return in Deadpool and Wolverine. That may be true, but certainly the studio was very happy to get that phone call. While I don't think Logan's return in Deadpool and Wolverine undoes the power of the ending of Logan the movie in any significant way, if Hugh Jackman does play Logan until he's 90 then that finale will lose something. the same is true when it comes to Robert Downey Jr.
While Downey may only be set to play Doctor Doom at this point, the actor is reportedly being paid quite a lot of money to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the next two Avengers movies. We have to accept the possibility that we could see him return as Iron Man again. Fans will certainly love to see that, but depending on how it's handled, it could undo some of the power of that amazing finale.
Like Hugh Jackman returning to play Logan, Robert Downey Jr returning to play Tony Stark isn't the end of the world. It can be done well, but it has to be done carefully. Avengers: Doomsday opens on May 1, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars follows on May 7, 2027.
