Many fans were stumped by who that teen with the face they couldn’t quite place was at Tony Stark’s funeral at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Everyone’s aware now, though, that this is Ty Simpkins, who turned up for the cameo to reprise his role as young Harley Keener from 2013’s Iron Man 3. The Russos have since explained that they felt they had to include the character as he’s an important part of Tony’s MCU journey. Though they did admit that they panicked over whether people would recognize him.
But is this the last we’ve seen of Simpkins in the franchise? Some have theorized – us here at We Got This Covered included – that Harley might be a good fit for an MCU version of Iron Lad, Tony’s teenaged counterpart who leads the Young Avengers in the comics. IGN recently caught up with the actor and pitched the idea to him and unsurprisingly, Simpkins is more than up for it. “Yes, 100%. I would love that!” he told the site.
Of course, Iron Lad is a complex character on the page. Famously, Nathaniel Richards is revealed to be a younger time-traveling version of Fantastic Four villain Kang the Conqueror, as well as a descendent of Mr Fantastic. This would involve a fair few twists to Harley’s established identity so far to make it work but again, Simpkins isn’t phased by it and would leap at the chance. “I’d do it, I’d do it. Without a doubt.” he added.
Kevin Feige has confirmed the MCU’s building up to the Young Avengers post–Avengers: Endgame, with WGTC also previously revealing that our source tells us a movie with the team’s in the works. How the franchise will tackle a complicated character like Iron Lad, though, we’ll have to see. But enlisting a familiar face like Ty Simpkins to bring the role to life wouldn’t be a bad move.