Robert Downey Jr.’s stay at Marvel has been decidedly one of the factors that have still kept the Marvel fandom’s unifying thread bound together – in love and loss, in grief and mourning, in victories and tragedies. The actor’s exit hits hard not in the portrayal of his on-screen martyrdom, but in manifold and indescribable ways: we are reminded not just of the perfect life he created amid immense hopelessness but also of that which he gave up to save an imperfect world.
Tragedies have always created great epics throughout history and the life of Robert Downey Jr. – on-screen and off – has remained a subject of great fascination. And none has been loved so much as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Iron Man since his genesis in the late Noughties.
Robert Downey Jr.’s MCU Return: Yay or Nay?
Since the actor’s grand exit from the Marvel stage, a thought has constantly haunted the people standing huddled at the shores of the MCU Phase Three. Some are yet to let go and bid farewell to the nostalgia and memories that hold them to the Infinity Saga. For some, maybe the idea of RDJ returning to the new era provides momentary relief. To others, the thought itself may be abhorrent.
In a recent panel, veteran Marvel actor, Mark Ruffalo has done little to ease the knot of tension for either group. Ruffalo is one of the only three Avengers from the original era still actively surviving in the new world order left in the wake of Iron Man and Black Widow’s sacrifice. And in his words, the era of time travel doesn’t exclude any possibility in its entirety, even though the two Avengers are gone:
“Sad, but there is a time machine. And there are alternate universes and realities, so anything could happen.”
However, at the same time, Ruffalo also clarified that this was not him giving away some future plans that Marvel has in development: “I’m not going to say it’s not possible, but I’m not going to say it is.”
Fans React to Mark Ruffalo’s Claims of RDJ’s MCU Return
Even after the Marvel exec and VP of Production & Development, Stephen Broussard’s exclusive claim that Robert Downey Jr. is “no longer on the table” at the studio now, Ruffalo’s claim has aided in sparking some untimely hope among the fandom. Twitter has not taken to it kindly.
Even if Tony Stark aka Iron Man returns to the scene as a Variant in Secret Wars, it will be a tad bit too exploitative, even by CBM standards. The comic book world of evergreen immortality on the glossed pages of paperback graphic novels does not translate on the big screens and the studio should know better than to broach the subject of resurrections in the modern era of limitless possibilities in filmmaking. Marvel does not have a shortage of IPs, even on their worst days.
The Iron Man trilogy and Avengers: Endgame are now available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: Mean and Green: Mark Ruffalo Spotlight [Emerald City Comic Con]
