Death is easily reversible in the world of comic books and their big screen adaptations, meaning that the rumors will probably never stop about a potential return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. From almost the second Avengers: Endgame faded to black, the actor was linked with a comeback, and speculation only intensified when his first non-MCU movie in six years bombed spectacularly at the box office.
Between the franchise’s existing roster of superheroes and the raft of new faces set to debut during Phase Four in both the movies and on Disney Plus, though, there are more than enough characters at Marvel’s disposal without having to shell out the massive amount of money that would be required to convince RDJ to return, not to mention how heavily it would dilute the emotional impact of Tony’s ultimate sacrifice.
However, tipster Mikey Sutton claims that not only is the 55 year-old earmarked for a comeback in the proposed Secret Wars crossover event, but the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards will ask him to join the Illuminati, Marvel’s secret cabal representing the various teams, nations and races in the comic book universe. According to Sutton, though, this will be an alternate reality’s version of Tony Stark, meaning that the events of Endgame won’t be a factor.
Of course, the Illuminati have been repeatedly linked to playing a major role in the MCU over the next several Phases, but the long-running series has more than enough fresh content coming down the pipeline that focusing their efforts on convincing Robert Downey Jr. to sign back up to reprise a role he’d already dedicated a decade of his life to should be near the bottom of their list of priorities.
