7) Iron Man
After a good eight years spent playing the character, Robert Downey Jr. has announced there will be no more Iron Man movies for him. It indicates the 50-year-old may be coming to the end of his time playing Tony Stark, and it means Marvel now has two options to consider: eventually discontinue the character when Downey bows out, or replace the actor and reboot the story.
Considering Hollywood’s unwillingness to cease milking the cash cow while there’s still money to be made, you can bet they’ll just recast and start over. But this needn’t be a bad thing.
The main reason RDJ’s Iron Man has been so entertaining is that his take on the character is so irreverent and self-assured. If Marvel wanted to mix it up for a unique interpretation, a fresh Iron Man could bring in to play some of the darker elements from the comics.
Iron Man 3 director Shane Black even foresees a future instalment tackling the Demon in a Bottle storyline, which deals with Tony Stark’s alcoholism and depression. For the uninitiated, this is considered the definitive Iron Man story, and an R-rating could certainly bring us a faithful adaptation.