MCU fans torn over RDJ’s unexpected Iron Man return

Robert Downey Jr. has officially returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as filming on the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday is finally underway.

It turns out though that the actor will also soon be reprising his role as Tony Stark.

This isn’t in a new film or television project; instead, Downey Jr. will be voicing Tony Stark in the upcoming Stark Flight Lab and Avengers: Infinity Defense attractions which are currently in development at the Disney California Adventure theme park.

The two rides will serve as an expansion to the pre-existing Avengers Campus, a Marvel themed area.

Stark Flight Lab invites riders to partake in Stark’s tech experiments.

They’ll sit in two-person pods as a robot arm whirls them around.

Avengers: Infinity Defense, on the other hand, is a trackless dark ride in which riders will come face to face with King Thanos.

This variant of Thanos succeeded in defeating the Avengers, and it’s teased that the multiverse will play a big role in its plotline.

I’m imagining heroes from Earth-616 will hop into this new reality to put a stop to Thanos.

Thunderbolts* launches in cinemas very soon.

I doubt Downey Jr. will be the only actor returning for that ride as alongside Thanos, it’s also due to star Ant-Man, Hulk, and Thor amongst others according to the concept art.

Personally, I think this all sounds pretty exciting but weirdly, fans are divided over Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark return.

“Man how much money can one man have for one role? I can’t imagine how much he’s getting for this,” wrote Reddit user IamTheGuamGuy.

Hey, can you blame him? If I had a lucrative role in the MCU, I’d also be using it as much as I could to stay booked and busy.

As for when you can expect to ride these attractions, unfortunately, there’s no word on that.

They were announced during last year’s D23 Expo with construction getting underway in the last couple of months.

I’d say we’re looking at 2026 or 2027 at the earliest.