Rumors have been doing the rounds that Robert Downey Jr. could return as a Tony Stark/Iron Man Variant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for quite a while now, and the actor himself has admitted that he would be interested in reprising his most famous role should the opportunity arise.
"It’s just crazily in my DNA. Probably the most like-me character I’ve ever played, even though he’s way cooler than I am," he said in a recent interview when asked about a potential return. "I’ve become surprisingly open-minded to the idea."
If Downey Jr. does suit-up as Iron Man again, it will most likely be in one of the upcoming Avengers movies - but what if this new take on the Armored Avenger goes down a villainous path?
In his latest newsletter, Jeff Sneider says he's heard that Downey Jr. could return in a future Avengers movie, with his Stark Variant ultimately transforming into Doctor Doom. Interestingly, Downey Jr. initially auditioned to play the iconic villain in 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four movie before he landed the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man.
If this does happen, we'd say it would almost certainly be a "one-and-done" situation, as another actor will likely be cast as Doom in Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four reboot.
Stark's death in Avengers: Endgame will go down as one of the most emotional and impactful moments in MCU history, and a lot of fans feel that bringing the character back in any capacity would be a mistake.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige echoed this sentiment when asked about the RDJ return rumors last year.
"We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way."
Would Downey Jr. returning as a Stark Variant who becomes Doctor Doom count as "undoing" this moment?
In related news, Sneider also mentions that Jeremy Renner is likely to return as Clint Barton for Avengers 5 following his near-fatal accident last year.
Renner recently said that he was "ready" to return, but it sounds like it might take the right story for him to fully commit to taking up Hawkeye's bow and arrow again.
"Maybe if enough time goes by, right? I think it kind of has at this point, but also what is the point of the narrative [and] the story?" he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "These are beloved characters. We did spend 23 films together essentially as a collective. What is the reason? What is the story? Do you have to do more after that? How do you ever resolve this?"
"When is it ever gonna feel like, 'Everyone gets their little bow, nobody died, it feels great!' What happens here?" he continued. "I've got feelings about it. I think everybody does. I think the guys that died have feelings about it."
What do you make of these rumors? Would you like to see Robert Downey Jr. play Doctor Doom in the MCU? Drop us a comment down below.