Iron Man May Be Gone, but Marvel Heroes Are Still Donning Armor

Sorry, Iron Man fans—despite rumors of Tony Stark’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s unlikely that Iron Man 4 is coming any time soon.

Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., made his debut in 2008 in the newly formed Marvel Studio’s Iron Man. The movie was a hit, thanks to a combination of great filmmaking and Downey’s charisma, and it helped secure Downey’s Hollywood comeback and launch the MCU.

Iron Man fans were soon treated to a sequel, Iron Man 2. Although the film didn’t fare as well as the first one, it introduced Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and continued Iron Man’s story. Iron Man came back again in The Avengers, and yet again Iron Man 3, which explored Tony’s PTSD after the Chitauri invasion and the ensuing Battle of New York.

All in all, Tony Stark appeared in nine MCU films, plus assorted cameos (some of which relied on existing footage from other projects). He’s also voiced by Mick Wingert in the animated series What If…? However, in his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame, Tony sacrificed his own life to save the universe from Thanos, ending the character’s run in the MCU.

So why, then, do rumors keep surfacing about Iron Man 4?

Iron Man 4 is unlikely, but there’s plenty of iron stuff to come

In 2014, Robert Downey Jr. appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and seemed to confirm that Iron Man 4 was in the works. However, the film never actually happened, and it’s possible that Downey Jr. was referring to one of the other films that Iron Man eventually appeared in.

Now, ten years later, Tony Stark is dead, and Marvel hasn’t announced any plans to revive him for Iron Man 4. With Marvel’s multiverse, anything is possible, but there have simply not been any official announcements.

However, the MCU has two other armored heroes: Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a.k.a. Ironheart, and Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle), a.k.a. War Machine. Both of them are slated to star in their own upcoming projects: the Ironheart series on Disney+, and the film Armor Wars. Neither project has a release date, but both are reportedly in the works.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)