Fans of what is now one of the biggest franchises of all-time can breathe a sigh of relief as Marvel has confirmed Robert Downey Jr. will return as Tony Stark in Avengers 2 and 3. The announcement, while not surprising, does come after some contentious negotiations. Downey is now set to be the armored Avenger for at least two more films. The announcement only includes the two Avengers sequels for the actor who kicked off the Marvel movie machine with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man. After the successful launch of Iron Man, Marvel made sure Tony Stark’s adventures became the launching pad for the Phase One films that would culminate in the record breaking Avengers.
While the details of the deal are still being held close to the vest, Downey was reportedly fighting for more lucrative deals for his Avengers co-stars. According to reports, the actor earned tens of millions of dollars for his participation in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers through back-end participation. Those deals were not nearly as generous for the other actors in the franchise, according to sources. Last month, when discussing the potential Phase 3 films with Entertainment Weekly, Kevin Feige cast doubt on whether RDJ would be needed for any future Iron Man sequels.  “I believe there will be a fourth Iron Man film and a fifth and a sixth and a 10th and a 20th,†the producer said. “I see no reason why Tony Stark can’t be as evergreen as James Bond. Or Batman for that matter. Or Spider-Man. I think Iron Man is a character just like that.â€
What do you guys think? Who could possibly fill RDJ’s armor in a future Iron Man film? Quemment below and sound off on our Twitter, Facebook and Google+ pages.
Sure, put Charlie Sheen in the suit. “Winning”!
Here is the thing. The first Iron Man was a hit right? Now let’s take a look at the other movies…Hulk, Thor, Captain America. I don’t know the exact numbers, but those movies didn’t seem to do as much business as the others. It’s not because of the characters either, Hulk had another (bad) movie way back when and a TV show. The characters are fine. It has to come down to the actor. The actor that did it for marvel, for better or worse, was RDJ. So go ahead and recast him someday, and you’ll probably end up with a Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton situation. You’ll make some money, sure, but your Iron Man movies will play a lot more like the “meh” that was Hulk or Captain America.
Just have more of him IN the suit next time.
No one else could be Stark. And would it really be so bad to let the franchise go out while still on top instead of milking that teat dry. Fans will still get all the snarky quips they want in Avengers.
Interesting that Feige would invoke the name of Bond as RDj currently owns the role of Tony Stark as Sean Connery once owned James Bond. It took quite a long time for the public to accept anyone other than Connery as Ian Fleming’s master spy and no matter how good any possible replacement for RDj might happen to be they’d most likely pale in comparison as George Lazenby did to Connery.
Russel Brand could do it. You just need a Beardy Ex druggy
Nuppers. Evergreen yes, anyone but RDJ no. I think that they’re a victim of their own successful casting and can’t imagine anyone else owning that role as well as he did.