Downey's last?

[TheWatcher]

RDJ genuinely enjoys playing Tony, he'll be around for awhile.

[Fudgie]

Just as long as he doesn't go Roger Moore in his last couple of Bond flicks old.

[LongshotRules]

Being that Iron Man is Disney's most successful superhero franchise right now, I doubt the movies will end after IM3. It's Disney. They'll offer enough $$$ to RDJ to make him say yes. I foresee the franchise to last another 2-3 movies after IM3. RDJ will call it quits after IM6 and Avengers 3.

[Fox]

Originally Posted by LongshotRules

Being that Iron Man is Disney's most successful superhero franchise right now, I doubt the movies will end after IM3. It's Disney. They'll offer enough $$$ to RDJ to make him say yes. I foresee the franchise to last another 2-3 movies after IM3. RDJ will call it quits after IM6 and Avengers 3.

That sounds about right to me.

[Matarreyes]

I bet he is very grateful for the movies that rekindled his career and the big bucks he gets out of them, but this is a guy who already has 2 Oscar nominations and who has been acting the hell out of much more demanding roles in his past. He will want to move onto more prestigious stuff, and as much as I adore him as Stark, I think he´ll be right to do it.

This is not to say he won´t be in the Avengers movies - he probably will, but I doubt there will be an IM4.

[Danalys]

we're good fans. does he like us and lots of money more that critics and academies? maybe.

[Matarreyes]

But his Sherlock Holmes fans love him as much as his IM fans do ))))
I will look forward to a potential SH3 after IM3, to be honest.

[Danalys]

SH fans don't make him part of the third highest earning film of all time and fill hall H at comic con. but yeah they're enjoyable films, and being part of multiple successful things has got to be nice. heck he has time to be in oscar bait as well if he wants.

[Visiting Arkham]

Honestly, get him on for Avengers 2 and 3 (probably the last ones Joss Whedon will be on board for) and then let him go. No more solo movies, Phase 3 can consist of plenty of films that aren't Iron Man, and we can have RDJ play Tony Stark through 2018ish. Think about how special it will feel having a 3 year gap between the second and third Avengers waiting for the final appearance of Downey Jr. as Stark, that will be an event in itself. That way, he can exit the franchise on a high note (while surely getting a boatload of cash for appearing) and they can make it an epic swan song for the character. It's a lot like serialized television, like LOST or Breaking Bad, having an end date improves the storytelling tremendously.

Who knows what Marvel wants to do after The Avengers 3 and into Phase 4, but by then RDJ will have appeared as Iron Man 6 times in 10 years, and hopefully 5 out of the 6 will be great, with one appearance being merely pretty entertaining. That's all you can ask of the man at that point, especially considering he is arguably the second or third guy responsible for the success of Marvel Studios behind Kevin Feige and maybe Jon Favreau. Let him exit the universe gracefully, and allow new talent to filter in to build a new path in the Marvel Studios universe.

[MarvelKnight]

Obviously this would never happen, but I've always thought it would be cool to have the avengers take on kang and introduce iron lad(probably could be a different name and a little older in the mcu) and then either stark dies, or retires and iron lad would take the place of iron man (taking up the name iron man obv.) and continuing the iron man legacy in the present time.

bottom line though, I can only hope rdj sticks as stark for as long as possible.

[violetspike123]

I hope he plays Ironman for as long possible.

[R_Hythlodeus]

Originally Posted by violetspike123

I hope he plays Ironman for as long possible.

don't worry. he will.

[fixxxer]

Originally Posted by Visiting Arkham

Honestly, get him on for Avengers 2 and 3 (probably the last ones Joss Whedon will be on board for) and then let him go. No more solo movies, Phase 3 can consist of plenty of films that aren't Iron Man, and we can have RDJ play Tony Stark through 2018ish. Think about how special it will feel having a 3 year gap between the second and third Avengers waiting for the final appearance of Downey Jr. as Stark, that will be an event in itself. That way, he can exit the franchise on a high note (while surely getting a boatload of cash for appearing) and they can make it an epic swan song for the character. It's a lot like serialized television, like LOST or Breaking Bad, having an end date improves the storytelling tremendously.

Who knows what Marvel wants to do after The Avengers 3 and into Phase 4, but by then RDJ will have appeared as Iron Man 6 times in 10 years, and hopefully 5 out of the 6 will be great, with one appearance being merely pretty entertaining. That's all you can ask of the man at that point, especially considering he is arguably the second or third guy responsible for the success of Marvel Studios behind Kevin Feige and maybe Jon Favreau. Let him exit the universe gracefully, and allow new talent to filter in to build a new path in the Marvel Studios universe.

I really do think this is the way Marvel/Disney intends to go. While the Iron Man character both literally and figuratively spearheads the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I believe IM3 will aim to wrap up 'Tony Stark' specific Iron Man themes and story arcs. I believe we'll see Stark again in Avengers 2 (obviously), followed by Avengers 3, whenever that's planned.

If we see Stark at all in the Phase 3 films, I believe it will be via references and/or cameo appearances from Downey... which, I believe is the way to go.

[crazyguy]

Originally Posted by fixxxer

I really do think this is the way Marvel/Disney intends to go. While the Iron Man character both literally and figuratively spearheads the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I believe IM3 will aim to wrap up 'Tony Stark' specific Iron Man themes and story arcs. I believe we'll see Stark again in Avengers 2 (obviously), followed by Avengers 3, whenever that's planned.

If we see Stark at all in the Phase 3 films, I believe it will be via references and/or cameo appearances from Downey... which, I believe is the way to go.

I think NPH could be great as IM.

[Polux]

I'm sure it has been mentioned; but is it just me, or RDJ looks buffer in this one than what he was in IM2 and Avengers?? Close to his IM1 size....


Polux

[fixxxer]

Looking years (a decade?) into the future, it would be prudent to go down Nolan's Bruce Wayne/John 'Robin' Blake route.

After Downey's ready to ride off into the sunset due to age and/or ennui, it would be really cool if we see an Iron-Man-in-Training type young 'un whom Stark would mentor and who would take on the mantle of Iron Man.

While expanding Nolan's Batverse into the Man of Steel, Justice League and beyond CLEARLY wouldn't work, the MCU's a completely different monster. The MCU was constructed as a shared universe since inception (not to be confused with Inception. ) and the movies, to a greater or lesser extent were meant to be linked, thematically.

This would cleanly side-step the need for a 'universe reboot' (an abhorrent idea and my own personal worst case scenario) and would allow the Avergers franchise to move forward with their flagship character in place.

The key, of course, would be casting someone who holds a torch to Downey in the charisma department.

[CaptainStacy]

Originally Posted by fixxxer

Looking years (a decade?) into the future, it would be prudent to go down Nolan's Bruce Wayne/John 'Robin' Blake route.

After Downey's ready to ride off into the sunset due to age and/or ennui, it would be really cool if we see an Iron-Man-in-Training type young 'un whom Stark would mentor and who would take on the mantle of Iron Man.

While expanding Nolan's Batverse into the Man of Steel, Justice League and beyond CLEARLY wouldn't work, the MCU's a completely different monster. The MCU was constructed as a shared universe since inception (not to be confused with Inception. ) and the movies, to a greater or lesser extent were meant to be linked, thematically.

This would cleanly side-step the need for a 'universe reboot' (an abhorrent idea and my own personal worst case scenario) and would allow the Avergers franchise to move forward with their flagship character in place.

The key, of course, would be casting someone who holds a torch to Downey in the charisma department.

I'd rather just see a different actor step in and play Tony Stark. Especially since the theme of the next IM movie is "Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?"

There's only one real Iron Man. Tony Stark.

[fixxxer]

Originally Posted by CaptainStacy

I'd rather just see a different actor step in and play Tony Stark. Especially since the theme of the next IM movie is "Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?"

There's only one real Iron Man. Tony Stark.

If we had our way, RDJ would play Iron Man in perpetuity, but failing that, I find it interesting as to how something like this just boils down to essentially what 'feels' right to each individual fan-person.

RDJ being replaced would just feel wrong to me. RDJ choosing his successor would just play better IMO.

Either way we are probably hypothesizing about something that would probably happen WAAAY down the road.

I fully expect Downey to renew with Marvel for another 3-4 movies at least, post-IM3.

[A Necessary Evil]

Well downey is obviously doing Avengers 2 and possibly 3, and I recall him saying that as long as the material itself is worth working with, he'd do it as long as he can.

[Picard Sisko]

I think this will be RDJ's last Iron Man film, but not his last appearance as Tony Stark in the MCU. He will most likely return for the Avengers 2 and make cameos in other solo movies.

[herolee10]

Am I the only one that keeps having this nagging fear that Feige and Marvel may go down the cheaper route and recast the role following Iron Man 3? I mean with his comments regarding on how the story will go on for Tony but yet keeping silence about whether they'll sign Downey on for more roles, it just kind of worries me that for Phase 2, it could start with Downey as Stark and end with a new guy as Stark for Avengers 2.

[ThePowerCosmic]

That's not gonna happen.

[TomPiltoff]

Yeah it's safe to consider Downey in for Avengers 2, and hopefully 3.

It's unfortunate that all The Avengers couldn't have the exact same contract so we wouldn't have to worry about this.

[jaqua99]

Yeah. I know Chris Hemsworth feels the same way, he jokingly said that he will be playing thor till he is 50. He'll be around for a while. No doubt

[elsewhere]

I still think Tom Cruise would have made for a better Stark/Iron Man, but I'm not sure he would have stuck with it for the long run like RDJ has. So I have to give RDJ credit for that. He seems sincerely invested and interested in the character.