With the MCU getting a new Captain America, is there a possibility that we will also get a new Iron Man as well? Yes, Robert Downey Jr.’s shoes are unfillable, but his suits might not be. We can imagine that Marvel would let it sink in first, as we’ve all just lost the biggest protagonist of the MCU. But we cannot leave out the fact that a new hero other than Rhodey and Pepper is going to fly in that suit someday. So we’re here to predict who exactly could it be?
Well, the answer to this question could be one of multiple options. The reason why we’re asking this question is that it has already been teased in the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer. It deals with the fact that the world does need an Iron Man, even though there are Spider-Man and plenty other heroes to save the day. While the motive of this question could be to teach Spider-Man that he doesn’t need to be the next Iron Man, but rather the first Spider-Man, we’re still wondering whether the search for Tony Stark’s replacement is still on or not.
Kevin Feige just confirmed that the real Mandarin is going to return in the MCU. Fans have always wanted to see Iron Man take on the REAL Mandarin and they were very upset to see that Trevor Slattery turned out to be a stage actor. But with Iron Man’s arch-nemesis coming in, you could suspect that there is an Iron Man coming in as well.
It is entirely possible that the Mandarin comes back as a villain for some other project. He could be a villain in Shang Chi, or Falcon & Winter Soldier, or he could team up with the Leader in Thunderbolts. But what’s the fun of having a Mandarin if you don’t pit him with Iron Man.
So let’s look into the options that we have with us. The first answer could be Ty Simpkins’ Harley Keener. Avengers: Endgame brought in a surprise cameo with the return of the kid from Iron Man 3 during the funeral scene. The boy had all grown up and even though we’re not sure whether he would have a future in the MCU, it’s still fair to consider that he could be playing a version of Iron Lad in the foreseeable future.
A Young Avengers movie is probably being developed and it could surely need an Iron Lad. What’s great is that Simpkins would also want to take this opportunity if given to him. When asked by IGN whether he’d be willing to take on Iron Lad in a future MCU movie and he said “Yes, one-hundred percent. I would love that!”
So there’s that. Now let’s consider our second option, i.e. Riri Williams. Last year, we heard rumors for an Iron Heart story also being developed by Marvel. So perhaps the next Iron Man may not be a guy after all. But let’s not bet all our money on this.
Let’s move onto the third and the most probable option and that is Norman Osborn. Spider-Man: Far From Home did tease a new Iron Man and we cannot deny the fact that it could easily be the evil Norman Osborn. We know that someone bought the Avengers Tower and that someone most definitely would turn out to be the big daddy Osbron setting up his own big building in New York.
He may be building a team of the Sinister Six to take Spidey down, but there are also major chances that he’d go on to lead the Dark Avengers. Yes a script for that is also in development, and the team is led by Norman Osborn who wears the Iron Patriot armor. Perhaps an Iron Man suit would help Osborn be something more than just the Green Goblin that we’ve already seen on the big screen. All signs do point this way so let’s see what happens.
There’s also a chance for Marvel to do a film set in the future, so perhaps we could see an older version of Morgan Stark who has donned the work and the suit of her father. But that’s too far of a stretch anyway. So let’s just keep the vote to Norman Osborn.
Whatever may be the case, we just have to be open minded and accept the direction that Marvel is moving in. We already know that Robert Downey Jr. cannot be replaced, but that doesn’t mean we still don’t get to see a version of Iron Man flying around. Robert Downey Jr. is done with the role and here’s the statement that he gave upon his tenure as Iron Man:
“What has it meant to sit in this character for so long? I can make a couple of comparisons. Not to compare myself to Charlie Chaplin, but people wanted to see him play the tramp. He did Monsieur Verdoux, he did Limelight – he had successful forays into not just being his most beloved character. But ultimately, in his autumn years he surrendered to the will of the people and re-found his joy and his acceptance in the fact that he’d been fortunate enough to have channeled and created that character to begin with.
Tony was out there for me to begin with. But you don’t think of the two separately. I think if you’d done as many of these films as I have and the first one was so definitive and game-changing – not because I’m so great, but because everybody did their job so well – what [director, Jon] Favreau did and what Gwyneth [Paltrow] did and everybody… It’s just like having a great football team, a great group of folks.”
