Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that X community notes said account which spread report of ‘Robert Downey Jr agreed to come back as Tony Stark in Iron Man’ is known for fake news.
X community notes confirmed: “@MyTimeToShineH is well known for spreading false information and clickbait posts. There are no verifiable claims regarding that Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU.”
Luckily, Downey never fully closed his doors about the possibility of returning to the MCU despite Iron Man’s death in Avengers: Endgame, although he claims that he thinks he has done everything he could in the role. Considering his great working relationship with Marvel Studios, this is somewhat expected. That being said, the actor has one condition if he’s ever to come back as Tony Stark.
While doing the press rounds for Oppenheimer, Downey candidly admitted that he was afraid that focusing primarily on the MCU would ruin his acting skills because he was playing the same character for longer periods of time. With a possible Oscar award on the horizon for him thanks to the Christopher Nolan film, it’s safe to say that Downey will be more adamant about being able to venture out of the MCU if he ever comes back as Iron Man. After Oppenheimer, he is slated to star in the series, The Sympathizer and the upcoming remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
Famously, RDJ’s Tony Stark died in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and the actor had seemingly retired from the role. He didn’t return to lend his voice to the role for the animated series What If…? and has since been focusing on all-new projects outside of the MCU. However, a recent report suggested that Marvel Studios execs have discussed making a new Avengers movie that brings back the original crew, including Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. This was followed by movie scooper MyTimeToShineHello on X reporting that “RDJ already agreed to come back,” possibly revealing the actor as the first name to get on board for the Avengers reunion film.
Of course, this information hasn’t been corroborated by the actor or Marvel Studios, and it should also be noted that the company hadn’t yet fully committed to the reported Avengers project. The report that a new Avengers film that brings back Iron Man isn’t hard to fathom, given the state of the industry. Dwindling box office returns for superhero movies this year, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 serving as an exception, may have gotten some execs in panic mode, and a big move like bringing back RDJ’s Tony Stark might be an attempt to bring big box office numbers back to the MCU.
Some fans have already been rooting for Tony Stark to reappear in the MCU, given how the multiverse makes it fairly easy for the character to return in a plausible way. Avengers: Secret Wars fan art was recently made imagining Iron Man returning to join forces with Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. That makes it clear that even if the rumored Avengers reunion film doesn’t end up happening, it’s always possible RDJ’s Tony Stark can still appear in another upcoming MCU film.