Robert Downey Jr. Reportedly Wants To Return To MCU To Interact With New Heroes

It can never be easy for an actor to walk away from their career-defining role, and some find it much harder than others to let go. Sylvester Stallone is still churning out Rocky and Rambo movies over 40 years later, while fellow action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger repeatedly lived up to his most famous line by coming back to the Terminator franchise over and over again.

Ever since bowing out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame, Robert Downey Jr. has frequently been linked to making a return. The speculation only intensified when his first non-MCU effort in six years tanked spectacularly at the box office, and after it was confirmed that Sherlock Holmes 3 had been put on the back burner, the 55 year-old doesn’t have any projects in development.

Of course, RDJ has been rumored for everything from a full-blown MCU return to a voice-only cameo, and we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones that told us She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel were in the works for Disney Plus before either show was announced – that the franchise’s Tony Stark is keen to interact with some of the studio’s newest acquisitions.

According to our intel, the Tropic Thunder star wants to share a bit of screen time with the likes of the X-Men and Fantastic Four, to provide a bridge between the old and new eras of the MCU. Of course, being dead in the main timeline is a considerable hindrance, but he could always return as an AI hologram or a multiverse version of Tony Stark. Either way, the chances of Robert Downey Jr. reappearing somewhere down the line are looking increasingly likely, although the studio have to make sure it doesn’t affect the emotional impact of Endgame‘s finale.