Avengers: Endgame featured a whole load of unexpected cameos, but one that was more of a surprise than most was the reappearance of Harley Keener. The kid who befriended Tony Stark back in Iron Man 3 hadn’t been seen in the MCU for five years before he showed up at Stark’s funeral, plus actor Ty Simpkins looked very different from when he’d last appeared.
Since his shock return, though, there’s been a lot of speculation whether this was teasing a larger comeback for Harley in the franchise. One idea is that he could be inspired by Stark to build his own armor and become a version of Iron Lad. This remains speculation for now, but one source is saying that Simpkins has been contracted by Marvel for one more movie.
TheMarvelScoopMaster has been dropping intel on Reddit of late, and one of his latest leaks is that the young actor originally signed up for a 3-picture deal. In response to a fan’s question about more Harley in the MCU, the user responded:
“He’s on a 3 picture deal. So presumably he has one more film left.”
Simpkins himself has suggested the door is open to him returning to the franchise, too. When asked about the possibility of Harley becoming Iron Lad, the star said he’d be up for that “100%”. This would be a huge change to the teen hero from the comics, but Marvel may want to streamline the complex backstory of Iron Lad in the MCU if he was to be introduced. And all the signs are pointing to the Young Avengers arriving sooner rather than later.
Then again, when discussing Simpkins’ cameo, the Endgame filmmakers have explained he was included to call back to Iron Man’s past and not to tease future appearances. The Russos even admitted that they were anxious that the cameo wouldn’t be well-received and would just confuse people. But we never thought he’d be in a second movie in the first place, so who knows if Harley Keener could return to the MCU again in time.