Robert Downey Jr. teased us last week with the promise of Iron Man 4 before shooting the whole internet down, along with our hopes. But although a solo Iron Man movie isn’t in the cards – for now – that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing any more Tony Stark in the future after next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. In fact, it now appears that Marvel Studios has found a way to put him in the upcoming Captain America 3, which is due in theaters on May 6, 2016.
The report comes from Hollywood Reporter, which isn’t prone to jumping the gun on these types of stories. They claim that the news is confirmed, and although they say that “Robert Downey Jr. will suit [up] as Iron Man one more time,“ it’s unclear whether they mean that literally, or if it’s just a colorful way to announce that Tony Stark will show up with or without his suit of armor.
It’s also unclear as to how big Robert Downey Jr.’s part will be. Since The Avengers, there have been crossovers between films but most of them have been brief. Other Avengers made cameos in Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, for example, but only briefly, and not with any impact on the actual story.
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However, since Robert Downey Jr. has a limited contract with Marvel Studios – and remains one of their biggest box office draws – it seems unlikely that Marvel Studios would go to all the trouble of putting him in Captain America 3 without actually giving him anything important to do. The odds are good that he’ll participate in some capacity that Marvel will be able to promote in the posters and trailers to drum up interest to compete with Batman v Superman, which will have already been in theaters a month but which may affect audience expectations for 2017’s summer blockbuster fare.
There may be more in store for this particular story, so stayed tuned for further updates.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
