An integral part of the MCU’s immense success is Robert Downey Jr. His performance as Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man took a B-list superhero and turned him into a pop culture icon. Of course, the film also launched the MCU as well, with Downey Jr.’s Stark becoming the center of the franchise and going on to feature in massive hits like The Avengers, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Endgame and many others.
The hero received the perfect conclusion to his decade-long story with Anthony and Joe Russo’s aforementioned Endgame as well, where he sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos. It was a good way to go out given what his arc across the MCU had been and after such a well executed send-off, it’s understandable that Downey Jr. has been reluctant to return to the role, despite the demand from fans for it to happen.
But it seems all hope isn’t lost yet. Indeed, he’s even warmed up to the idea a bit in recent times and with much speculation pointing towards some sort of part for him in the Ironheart TV show, which has been confirmed to be in the works, we’re now hearing a little bit more about what’s going on behind the scenes over at Marvel Studios.
According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Taskmaster would be the villain in Black Widow, and that a She-Hulk TV show was in development way back in April – Robert Downey Jr. isn’t ruling out a return to the MCU but he’s asking for a “ridiculous” amount of money if they want him back. We weren’t able to get an exact figure confirmed, but we’ve been told that he wants more than his base salary was for Endgame. According to Observer, that was $20 million, so he’s asking for more than that for whatever form his MCU return may take – be it a role in the Ironheart TV show or somewhere else.
Will Marvel give him what he wants? Quite possibly, as any movie or Disney Plus series featuring the actor would draw in a massive number of fans all eager to get a bit more Tony Stark in their lives. And with Robert Downey Jr. not exactly finding too much success with his first post-MCU effort, it’s looking more and more likely that he’ll soon return to the franchise that made him the star he is today.
