If he bowed out in 2019, at the end of “Avengers: Endgame”, can Robert Downey Jr. return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as many fans are asking for? Answer with producer Stephen Broussard.
Does Robert Downey Jr. have a future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Five years ago, the question could still be asked. Since 2019 and Avengers: Endgame, it has been much more absurd, the actor having said goodbye to the franchise at the same time as his character of Tony Stark / Iron Man, which he had played since 2008.
But since Marvel Studios is reluctant to truly kill a character, and the multiverse map makes the possibilities endless (including seeing an actor in another role or variant traits), many fans are hoping for Robert’s return. Downey Jr. in the next Avengers. And some even rented a billboard to get the message across to Kevin Feige.
Spectators who risk being put off by the words of Stephen Broussard: “One of the Phase IV meta-narratives revolved around new characters. New people donning capes”explained the producer in an interview given to io9. “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.”
Robert Downey Jr. is no longer part of our plans
“There are some handovers that happen after those first ten years of Marvel storytelling, like Robert Downey Jr. not being in our plans anymore, or things like that. It’s about a new generation moving on to the foreground, which, again, has always happened in comic books.”
A statement that probably also applies to Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America) and Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow), while Tom Hiddleston (Loki) or Paul Bettany (Vision) were given a second chance . Even a third and a fourth in the case of Thor’s half-brother.
If these remarks are likely to reassure those who feared that the multiverse would reduce the dramatic scope of certain films, by resuscitating the dead with a vengeance (even if they are alternative versions), it is also possible that Stephen Broussard is playing the bluff card, as Secret Wars looms on the horizon of 2026.