Marvel categorically states Robert Downey Jr. is never returning to the MCU, but nobody believes it

Robert Downey Jr. won’t return as Iron Man. No, we really mean it this time. Okay, you got us. But how do we even know for sure nowadays? One minute it’s “RDJ won’t return as Iron Man,” and then the next, it’s “RDJ rumored to return as Iron Man.” We’re just as confused about this as all of you must be. Just when we thought RDJ might actually be coming back, there’s been some developments in the validity of those claims.

Stephen Broussard, a Marvel executive and member of the so-called “Marvel Studios Parliament,” spoke to Gizmodo/io9 about the future of the MCU and how Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kick-started Phase 5. Within that interview, he touches on Robert Downey Jr.’s future career with Marvel, which isn’t looking so bright. It’s hard to forget, but for those who can’t recall, Tony Stark sacrificed himself to the overwhelming power of the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame in order to restore half the population lost in “the blip” — i.e. Thanos’ snap. He lends his life to that cause, and while his funeral is a real tear-jerker, there was some hope that he might return. We’re here to diminish that hope. Well, not us exactly — we’re just the news firm — but Broussard is happy to rain on that parade.

In the interview, Broussard said this of Robert Downey Jr.’s much-anticipated return: “After these first 10 years of Marvel storytelling, torches are being passed, like with Robert Downey Jr. no longer being [on the] table and stuff like that.”

For a long time, it was rumored that Tom Cruise would be replacing RDJ as “Superior Iron Man,” which is a variant of Tony Stark that’s an anti-hero from Earth-TRN517 (all of these Earths are starting to sound very Rick and Morty, aren’t they?). Unlike the original Iron Man, who certainly has his fair share of unlikable qualities, Superior Iron Man is an amalgamation of all the worst traits that the billionaire, playboy, philanthropist has to offer — and some of them are glaringly obvious. Superior Iron Man is egotistical beyond belief, incredibly selfish, and will crush anyone and anything that stands in his way of becoming the world’s smartest man alive. Rather than being morally dubious like his Earth-616 counterpart, Superior is a full-fledged “bad guy.”

There’s been other like-minded rumors in the past as publications pull out all the stops to try and unveil who the next Iron Man might be. As far as the recent announcement, however, Marvel fans are in total denial and refuse to be convinced that Kevin Feige isn’t just pulling a No Way Home and saving RDJ for a momentous return. It wouldn’t be the first time that Marvel have deceived their loyal fanbase, now would it? We were led to believe that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield wouldn’t be appearing in No Way Home either — plus Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe — but oh, how wrong we were. And we spotted those lies from a mile away.

At the same time, Boussard might be a reliable source, but it’s ultimately Feige who gets the final say in any Marvel-based happenings, so unless we hear it from his own mouth, we’ll gladly remain in our blissful state of denial, thank you.

Who knows? Maybe these rumors could amount to something and RDJ really isn’t coming back. In that case, we’ll just have to accept Tom Cruise as the new Iron Man, right? Yay…