Marvel confirms Robert Downey Jr. will not be returning to the MCU

Sorry, Iron Man fans, Robert Downey Jr. really isn’t going to be re-appearing in any future Marvel movies.

Although Tony Stark met his heroic end in Avengers: Endgame, many had held out the hope that he could still be reintroduced in some way in future movies. Given the fact that Marvel has been experimenting more and more with the whole multiverse concept, deaths don’t have to mean anything anymore. Which, if you ask me, is a problem in itself, but that’s a whole other can of worms that I’m not going to open right now. Regardless, it didn’t seem unreasonable that Downey Jr. could return, even if only for a brief cameo.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania marks the start of the MCU’s fifth phase - take a look at the trailer below.

In an interview with io9 (via Gizmodo), Marvel executive Stephen Broussard revealed that Phase Five is going to focus a lot more on newer characters who were first introduced in Phase Four. That also means leaving some old favourites behind for good - namely, Iron Man.

“Well, I think one of the meta-narratives of Phase Four was about new characters. It was about new people stepping into mantles. 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 said. “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.”

Although this news might be disappointing to some, I personally think it’s promising that the studio isn't planning to lean on surprise cameos to please their audience. The second Phase Five movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is set to release on 5 May.