Kevin Feige has confirmed whether or not Iron Man will be returning in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Robert Downey Jr. originated the MCU version of the character in 2008’s Iron Man, the movie that kicked off the franchise which has now expanded to include 33 movies and eight Disney+ shows, with many more on the way. Downey Jr. reprised his role in nine MCU movies before his character’s death in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
Vanity Fair recently ran a cover story on Robert Downey Jr. in which they spoke to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the possibility of a future Iron Man MCU return. Feige said that they are planning to “not touch that moment again.” He shared that bringing Iron Man’s story to a close took years of hard work, and they do not intend to “magically undo it.” Check out his full quote below:
We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.
Iron Man’s MCU Legacy Looms Large
Given the fact that the introduction of the multiverse in Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU could potentially allow a version of Iron Man to return to the franchise, Feige’s determination may seem surprising. However, Iron Man’s death is one of the most important moments in the overarching story of the franchise. In addition to allowing Robert Downey Jr. to exit the MCU after more than a decade playing the same character and go on to pursue other projects like Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the legacy of the Iron Man character still defines the path of the MCU moving forward.
This has already been the case, as coping with the loss of his mentor Iron Man was at the center of the two most recent adventures of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. While it is currently unclear if that particular character will be returning to the MCU, Iron Man has already inspired another hero who is set to make a splash in the franchise. That would be the armored young inventor Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), also known as Ironheart, who debuted in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and is set to return in the upcoming Disney+ show Ironheart.
Iron Man also has another, less distinctly positive influence on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His Avengers: Endgame decision to return the population that Thanos destroyed without erasing the five years the universe spent without them resulted in a disjointed timeline known as The Blip, which has had tremendous social and political ramifications the universe over. Even if the character never returns, his actions have a tremendous impact and leave behind a legacy just as important and complicated as the character himself.
Source: Vanity Fair
