He is in 3 of the 10 biggest hits of all time: will this superhero return to the cinema?

“And I am Iron Man” : it was with these words, which came full circle by echoing the very last line of his first solo adventure, released eleven years earlier, that Robert Downey Jr. took care of his release. And said goodbye to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sacrificing his character of Tony Stark at the end of Avengers Endgame.

A feature film which, in the space of a few minutes, caused the Avengers to lose its leaders (Tony Stark and Steve Rogers), and the MCU to lose two of its most interesting characters, to whom it had been able to offer real narrative arcs. But are their departures really irreversible?

Rebroadcast this Monday, December 11 on W9, the first Iron Man by Jon Favreau, spearhead of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in cinema, allows us to measure the weight of his absence in a universe that is struggling to move forward since the monumental success of ‘Endgame, one of the biggest of all time.

And who, multiverse requires, could easily find solutions to bring him back in one way or another. In the form of a variant for example. Played by Robert Downey Jr. or another actor, as promised by the scoopers claiming that Tom Cruise had filmed a cameo in an alternate Iron Man armor for the purposes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was totally fake.

It has since been announced that the sixth Avengers would be inspired by the Secret Wars event, which brings several universes into collision and multiplies the story possibilities to bring back missing characters. And we imagine that the temptation will be great on Marvel’s side, while the launch of Phase V operated with Ant-Man 3 or The Marvels looks like a false start.

It’s about a new generation coming to the forefront

But producer Stephen Broussard ruled out the possibility of Robert Downey Jr.’s return earlier this year: “One of the meta-narratives of Phase IV revolved around new characters. New people donning capes.”he told io9 last February. “You see, for example, that Cassie [Lang] has a suit [dans Ant-Man 3], [l’arrivée de] Kate Bishop [dans Hawkeye]or new characters introduced, like Jack in Werewolf by Night.”

“There are handovers that happen after those first ten years of the Marvel story, like Robert Downey Jr. not being part of our plans anymore, or things like that. It’s about a new generation moving on to foreground, which, again, has always happened in comic books.”

Kevin Feige kicks into touch

In a shared universe where writers and producers have difficulty making their characters die, we will appreciate these comments which, if they risk chilling some fans, undoubtedly also concern Chris Evans and Scarlett ‘Black Widow’ Johansson. Even though a rumor relayed by Variety reported discussions around a project bringing together the original Avengers, to try to give a boost to the MCU.

Rumors from the corridors were quickly denied by Kevin Feige. Who repeats his words over and over again from the various media who ask him the questionprobably to be certain that the big boss of Mavel Studios did not express himself badly.

In the meantime, and in the absence of Tony Stark, the role of Iron Man will be played by Riri Williams. Discovered in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in the guise of Dominique Thorne, the young woman will then be at the heart of her own series, Ironheart, nickname of the heroine when she wears this armor built on the model of that of the ex- leader of the Avengers. But which does not yet have a release date.

Without forgetting James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), aka War Machine, who made his return in the series Secret Invasion, broadcast last summer on Disney+. And which we will see again in Armor Wars, a television show transformed into a film which will tell us what happens when the technology created by Tony Stark falls into the wrong hands.

Failing to be physically present, the shadow of the first Iron Man and spearhead of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue to hover over it.