A source has learned that Robert Downey Jr. won’t be back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after all. After failed talks, it was confirmed that the 57-year-old actor who plays Iron Man is done with the franchise.
Stephen Broussard, the Vice President of Production and Development at Marvel Studios, said that options for Tony Stark to come back “aren’t on the table” after he died in Avengers: Endgame.
I think one of the meta-narratives of Phase Four was about new characters. It was about new people stepping into mantles,
Broussard said when he was asked how Marvel plans to connect Phase Five to Phase Four.
If you look at, like, Cassie [Lang in Quantumania] getting a suit and Kate Bishop [in Hawkeye], new characters being introduced like Jack in Werewolf by Night,
he continued.
After these first 10 years of Marvel storytelling, torches are being passed, like with Robert Downey Jr. no longer being [on the] table and stuff like that.
So it was kind of like a new generation stepping to the forefront which, again, has always happened in the comics.
Producers wanted Downey to come back for Avengers: Secret Wars, which is set to come out in 2026, but he wouldn’t do it until he got $80 million and a cut of the profits.
Robert is a businessman and only asks for what he considers proportionate to what he’s offering,
an insider shared.
He and his people know he’s integral to the franchise.
