The Marvel Cinematic Universe began with actor Robert Downey Jr. and his role as Iron Man. It’s a character that Robert Downey Jr. continued to portray for several other installments throughout the franchise until he sacrificed himself to stop Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.
Fans have since expressed their desire to see him reprise the role, and while nothing has been confirmed, a new rumor suggests that Robert Downey Jr. could return albeit as a new character.
It’s certainly a strange rumor, but with the Multiverse involved, certainly just about anything is possible. The rumor suggests that Robert Downey Jr. could actually be the villain in one of the next Avengers movies. This would definitely be an unexpected change for Avengers 5 and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Initially, the rumor shared by CBM via insider Jeff Sneider indicates that Robert Downey Jr. would actually appear as a variant of Tony Stark. This is something that’s been heavily speculated by fans and insiders. After all, the Multiverse would make it quite easy for a variant to appear. However, the variant would later take on the mantle of another iconic Marvel character.
It seems that he would actually play Doctor Doom. It’s a role that Robert Downey Jr. himself once auditioned for with 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four released prior to Iron Man. Thus it would presumably be a stand-alone appearance, a reference to the past and an unexpected twist, and one that would pave the way for a new and proper MCU Doctor Doom to be introduced in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.
Ultimately, this information should be taken with a grain of salt. However, as a “one-and-done” situation as described by Sneider, it could be quite possible. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates regarding this situation as we have them. Though it’s unconfirmed, Marvel Studios has been known to pull such surprises as these, so perhaps we could see Robert Downey Jr. bring a new Marvel character to life if not a proper reprisal of Tony Stark aka Iron Man.