We’re only a few days away from the Deadpool 3 premiere. The sequel will show us how Marvel brought Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to the MCU without ruining the character’s arc in the Fox Marvel movies. The Wolverine from that story died in Logan, and that death is permanent. We know that from both the Deadpool & Wolverine trailers and Marvel’s comments.
When we finally see that on the screen, we’ll immediately understand how Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) can return to Avengers 5 and Secret Wars without actually ruining the ending of Endgame. Come to think of it, Endgame and Loki are all you need to see to figure out Marvel’s line of thinking for resurrecting dead heroes.
While it’s only a matter of time until RDJ returns to his iconic Iron Man role, we might be in for a huge surprise, one that we did not necessarily see coming. That’s according to an insider’s scoop on the actor’s return in future Avengers movies.
Before we look at it, I’ll tell you that big spoilers follow below, including a Deadpool 3 detail from the trailers.
How Marvel resurrects superheroes
As I said before, Endgame and Loki are all you need to understand what Marvel does with dead superheroes. In the former, we got a different Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and a different Thanos (Josh Brolin) than those belonging to the main MCU reality. Gamora died in Infinity War, and Earth-616’s Thanos got killed early in Endgame.
Then Loki gave us a different Loki variant instead of the Loki (Tom Hiddleston) we lost in Infinity War. All these cases prove that Marvel won’t resurrect the dead characters. Instead, we’ll get different versions of them.
The Deadpool 3 trailers, especially the final one that Marvel premiered a few days ago, make it very clear. The Wolverine we’re getting hails from a different reality. One where Wolverine did not become the world-saving hero the X-Men needed. Instead, he turned out to be a disappointment. Kevin Feige also confirmed this Wolverine is a different variant than the Fox version. The Fox Wolverine died in Logan.
Back to Iron Man, it’s not a question of if Robert Downey Jr. is coming back, but when he’s coming back. That is, will we see Downey in Avengers 5, or will we have to wait for him until Secret Wars? I hope the answer is that we’ll get him to appear in both movies. But if the newest RDJ rumor is accurate, we might get a massive plot twist.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man became Doctor Doom?
It won’t necessarily be the Iron Man from this reality that’s coming back. Well, I can see how the MCU’s Avengers might want to go back to the past of this timeline to grab Iron Man real quick to help the Avengers fight a big threat: A different Tony Stark version that’s gone somewhat villainous in a different reality. But I’m just speculating here.
Jeff Sneider has heard (via Screen Rant) that Robert Downey Jr. might come back to the MCU as a Stark variant who became Doctor Doom in his world. Sneider acknowledged that insiders do not support his information, however:
Speaking of Doctor Doom, there’s still no word yet about his casting in Fantastic Four, as insiders denied my inquiry about Robert Downey Jr., who I was told might come back as an alternate-universe Tony Stark who becomes Doctor Doom instead of Iron Man. It seems far-fetched, yes, but I figured that if there was any hope of Downey coming back, there’d have to be a new wrinkle for him to play. So, for now, we continue to wait…
Whether Sneider’s scoop is accurate or not, remember that RDJ met Marvel to play a different Doctor Doom many years ago. That was before he became the Tony Stark we all love.
As Screen Rant explains, there’s precedent for this type of storyline in the comics. In Infamous Iron Man, Victor Von Doom became Iron Man. What if we’ll get the opposite in the MCU? Tony Stark would become Doctor Doom instead of Iron Man in his reality.
That’s not a guarantee that RDJ would become a villain. He could be more of an antihero that might fight the Avengers initially. And that’s certainly what I’d want to see more of. We could get a sort of sequel to Captain America: Civil War. This Iron Man variant would have no reason to really pull back punches. There will be no love between him and the main reality’s Avengers.
Having Downey play a completely different version of Tony Stark would also be a great challenge for the actor. It’ll be quite a sight for MCU fans as well.
I’ll also remind you of a theory I’ve had for several years, ever since rumors said that Tom Cruise might play an Iron Man variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. What if it’s Downey who plays that Iron Man variant?
After Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) wreaked havoc in that reality, who could blame that version of Iron Man for wanting to find the Earth-616 Avengers and get his revenge?
After all, this is an Iron Man who has always been successful in defending that reality. He must be way more arrogant, having never experienced loss.
Now, I can’t help but wonder if the Iron Man of that reality isn’t actually a version of Doctor Doom where Doom was part of the Illuminati, at least for that reality. And what if the Avengers need the Iron Man who died in Endgame to fight this Doctor Doom?
