Avengers: Endgame is going to bring about an end for the biggest name in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man. The possibility for Robert Downey Jr. aka Tony Stark to return in the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-Avengers: Endgame is almost negligible as it has been confirmed that his contract has been exhausted and he is looking for a future beyond MCU. But considering how big of a figure Iron Man is, how can Marvel just leave him behind without carrying an essence of the character forward?
It is believed that Iron Man would either be killed off just like Captain America and that is where his character ends, or he could be given a happy retirement and kept safe for future cameos. We have a new theory which reads something along these lines and it actually suggests a way in which Tony Stark could continue in the MCU even if Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t want to appear in any more films.
So, Reddit user CaptainSpaceWolf13 suggests that Tony Stark will become Spider-Man’s New AI. Here’s what he wrote:
“We all know that Tony Stark is currently stranded in space with very little hope of rescue…but we also know that he WILL be rescued for a major part in Avengers: Endgame, so let’s just move on from that. It has been rumored that RDJ’s time as Tony Stark/Iron Man will not be strictly or completely ending after Avengers 4, but he will continue on as TS/IM on a limited basis. There are a few ways that Tony could continue on in the MCU:
1) Retire and just serve as a figurehead and very limited Iron Man figure in extreme circumstances.
2) Renegotiate his contract and serve as a central figure in the MCU again.
3) Join the Guardians of the Galaxy and go to space.
4) Die and become an AI.”
Joining the Guardians is totally out of the picture, and no more contracts will be renegotiated because Robert Downey Jr. is way too expensive, and looking for a future beyond the MCU. So considering these, here’s how the Redditor continues:
“Personally, I think that the two most likely scenarios are #1 and #4, but I think that #4 would be a good end for Tony and would make his story that much better. That way his character can continue to evolve and he wouldn’t necessarily be a major part of the MCU going forward, but he would still always be there. Most recently in the comics Tony has “died” and uploaded his consciousness into an AI. This way he can still be a part of his world and can still help his friends, while technically being gone. If Tony were to die in the MCU then this would be the best way for his character to go, and to make it even better he could become PP/SM’s new AI. This way Tony could still be a central father figure and mentor to Peter, all while taking a back seat to the future MCU while still being important.
In the past movies, there has definitely been a deep connection between the two characters and this happening in the future just really makes sense to me. Just imagine Tony dying at the end of Avengers 4 and then in an end-credits scene we see Peter getting ready to go do Spider-Man stuff and then boom we here Tony’s voice saying “hey kid” and the movie ends.”
Well, this could be an amazing end to Avengers: Endgame as a film and lead us right into Spider-Man: Far From Home. But with what the description of Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer told us, the ending of Avengers 4 will take a big toll on Peter Parker and he would want to take a break from being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. So, the ending that the Reddit user proposes may not lead us to the way Spider-Man: Far From Home is being portrayed.
Moreover, even the voice of Robert Downey Jr. for 5-10 scenes in the film would cost Marvel at least $5 Million, so they’d want to cut down on costs like these if Tony Stark won’t be having a physical appearance. Perhaps if this were to happen, then Marvel could use an actor with a similar voice, just as James D’Arcy plays the live action version of Jarvis, having a similar voice to Paul Bettany. But doing that may undermine Robert Downey Jr., and no one can really replace him in any given situation or aspect.
Rest we will only find out once Avengers: Endgame comes out on April 26.
