Tony Stark may have made the ultimate sacrifice to save the universe in Avengers: Endgame, but almost as soon as the credits faded to black on the Infinity Saga’s concluding chapter speculation started about Robert Downey Jr.’s potential return. The old saying goes that nobody really stays dead in either comic books or their movie adaptations with the exception of Spider-Man‘s Uncle Ben and Batman’s parents, so seeing Iron Man again in the future isn’t entirely outside the realms of possibility.
There’ve been reports that RDJ’s excessive financial demands could be a stumbling block in negotiations, although he’s said to have lowered his asking price after Dolittle bombed spectacularly at the box office, and even if he doesn’t make a comeback, Tony will still cast a huge shadow over the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we’ve already seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
One idea for bringing Tony back into the fold without compromising the emotional impact of Endgame’s climax is to have him be the voice of the AI in the proposed Ironheart show that’s in the works for Disney Plus. It’s a good idea, truth be told, and it’s one that may be extended a bit, as we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us that the Snyder Cut is coming to HBO Max, Percy Jackson is being rebooted as a TV series and Ryan Reynolds would cameo in Hobbs & Shaw – that Marvel are also considering having Downey Jr. lend his vocal talents to an AI upgrade for Spider-Man’s costume in a future movie.
Not only would that give the actor the opportunity to reunite with his on and offscreen protege Tom Holland, but having him voice an AI for Spider-Man‘s suit would also be a fitting character development and more than a little ironic, given that the transition from superhero to artificial intelligence would ultimately make Tony Stark something of a reverse-engineered version of his own J.A.R.V.I.S. system.