Robert Downey Jr. Will Be Back as Tony Stark/Iron Man in ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’ 2 & 3

Marvel Entertainment announced today that Robert Downey Jr. has signed a two-picture deal to return as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the two sequels to Marvel’s The Avengers.

Robert Downey Jr_Iron Man_Mountains

Robert Downy Jr. seen standing in front of the mountains he plans to buy with his Avengers money.

Downey had been playing a coy public game of “Will I or won’t I sign a new contract?” ever since his initial deal with Marvel ran out after Iron Man 3, but with a reported payday of $50 million dollars from Marvel’s The Avengers alone, it was probably a foregone conclusion that he would re-sign. Sure, Marvel is legendarily stingy when it comes to salaries but Robert Downey Jr. is inarguably the most important reason why they are dominating the box office with upwards of three new films a year and losing him would have been a major blow to the studio.

No terms of the deal were disclosed but it is being described as a two-picture deal so chances are that Iron Man 3 really did close out the solo adventures of (this) Tony Stark. No word on provisions for cameos in other Marvel Studios films either.

The sequel to Marvel’s The Avengers will once again be written and directed by Joss Whedon and is set to start shooting in March 2014 and hit theaters May 1, 2015.


Comments

  1. Avatar photo consafo80 (@consafo80) says:

    Brilliant news. I can’t see anyone else in the roll.

  2. Yes! Now we can all go and celebrate by eathing Shawarma, anyone knows of a great Shawarma place nearby?

  3. Glad they got this done, never doubted they would but it’s still nice to know for sure that he’s coming back.

  4. I’d heard that one of the reasons he’d been holding out was to get a bigger slice of the pie for his co stars. Which, if it is true is pretty darn awesome.

  5. So will we see a different/new post credit scene from IM3???

  6. Called it, guess Marvel is paying the Avengers cast a bigger salary instead of just recasting everyone (Which they threatend to do). Guess the suspense is over, Avengers 2 is back on track.

    • When was Avengers 2 in question?

    • It was on IGN about 2 months ago (I divide my attention between here and IGN for comic news), the Avengers cast (Helmsworth, Renner, Johannson, and Evans I think) wanted more money to do the sequel because I think all of them got payed $200,000 for the first movie. They said they wouldn’t do the sequel unless Marvel upped the salary and Marvel said they would just recast them instead of paying them more. Downey (who made more than anyone else) joined the rest of the cast for solandarity. LIKE A BOSS!

    • Gotcha. I remember reading some rumblings about the cast wanting more money but never put much stock in it. You see things like that happen all the time when the first film of a franchise is successful. I had no doubt Marvel and Disney would work it out, Avengers/Marvel films in general are BY FAR their biggest money makers right now.

  7. While I love Downey’s portrayal of Stark, and am glad that he will be in future Avengers films, I do think that it would be nice to let his solo franchise rest for awhile. Marvel’s juggling a lot of characters at the moment, not counting the ones we think/hope to see in Phase 3, so making a little space would be wise. They already have plenty of proven box office appeal with Captain America/Thor solo films.

  8. “Yaaaay. Alright. Good job, guys. Let’s not come in tomorrow. Let’s just … take a day.”

  9. This was a foregone conclusion. There’s no way Marvel would kick the golden goose out of the nest.

  10. So after IM3.

    Will Iron man be in the suit? or do you think he’ll be sitting on a sofa @ Avengers Tower controling the suit with his crazy VR tech

    • I suppose that you could argue that Tony is too much of a daredevil to be satisfied with remote heroics — he would miss being in the heat of the fight . . .

      Still the whole remote army of suits was a weak plot point, which, only grows more ridiculous the more I think about it . . .

    • Dunno, Tony’s been “phoning it in” quite a bit in the main Avengers book of late…

    • If by phoning it in you mean “over seeing the construction of a Dyson sphere in order to save the entirety of the multiverse and spacetime” then sure, he’s been phoning it in…

    • @Iamjhil- I sure hope he’s in the suit. It just doesn’t feel as heroic when he’s doing things by remote control.

      @USPUNX- Yeah, Tony’s been pretty busy lately. With him appearing in the Guardians Of The Galaxy comic, I wonder if Marvel is planning on having him cameo in the film as well?

    • I think realistically, Tony or most people would just do the remote control thing. Its safer and probably more efficient, but I think it makes the character kinda boring. “Real heroic, you sat in the tower flying all the robots while the rest of us risked our lives!”. I’m betting Tony just becomes a tech guy in Avengers 2, and I’m hoping Rhodey takes his place on the team as War Machine.

    • By “phoning it in” I mean remotely controlling the armor while not actually being inside it. Dat crazy VR tech.

  11. Now curious what the deal is with all the Iron Man/Guardians of the Galaxy stuff in the comics. Just to hopefully sell more comics and not setting up anything for the movies? Guess we shall see…

    • All the statements from Marvel that I’ve read have emphasized that the Guardians movie exists in its’ (for now) isolated corner of the Cinematic Universe. Now could Stark still form a link between Guardians and Avengers 2? Possibly. Then again, I think I also read that Marvel stated that the Guardians will not be in Avengers 2.

      Personally, I think Iron Man in Guardians is simply about getting more Iron Man fans to buy Guardians of the Galaxy comics. Or, Bendis just loves writing him too much to quit (in which case, I guess, Spider-Man will be popping by soon as well . . .:))

    • I think Stark’s main role in the Guardians comic is to serve as a familiar face to ease readers into the book. Re. The movie: I thought Guardians was a stepping-stone leading to Avengers 2. If it isn’t linked to the next Avengers movie, perhaps Disney/Marvel are playing the super-long game? Maybe Guardians is a step on the road to Avengers 3?

    • My educated guess is that Guardians is the stepping stone to Avengers in that it will establish who Thanos is and what he wants, though, he’ll mostly be in the background. His interests will run afoul of the Guardians, they’ll clash, the Guardians will win the battle, but Thanos’ grand plan will remain for the Avengers to face in their own movie. At least, that’s my theory based on what I’ve read. Marvel could be playing coy with us and the Guardians will have a very visible role in Avengers 2. Though, when you think about it, wouldn’t both those teams in one film be a little bloated? Some people are already worried about Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver being too much . . .

  12. Good to hear. Even if Iron Man 3 wasn’t the greatest movie it still had that RDJ charm to keep it entertaining. Interesting to note that this means, more then likely, we won’t be getting any more Iron Man films with Downey. Unless he’s willing to do more which I kinda doubt. But as long as he’s around for the next Avengers movie (and now a 3rd which is also big news) I’m not complaining.

  13. I’d rather see Robert Downey’s tens of millions of dollars in compensation spent to create a greater spectacle on the screen than go in Downey’s bank account. There are lots of talented actors who could replace him, even some unknowns. Success in acting is very much a matter of luck. I am convinced that there are actors as talented as Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson pounding the pavement in NY and LA right now who will never get their big break. Furthermore, Downey has already aged out of the role. Tony Stark is forever muscular and sexy in his early to mid thirties. I’ll make a bold prediction about Avengers 2 and 3 right now. Robert Downey won’t take his shirt off in either one.

    • When Tony Stark was first being cast, there were rumors that Tom Cruise might play the role. I was relieved when Cruise was not cast, because it is certain he would demand a pay day that would leave less money for a spectacular film. Now, Robert Downey is in Tom Cruise’s league in terms of his ability to demand a fat paycheck.

    • Had Downey not been cast as Iron Man, the Marvel movie universe would not exist, period. He is why the first one succeeded and led to everything else after it being greenlit. They owe him. He needs to stay through this first iteration of Marvel movies and then the role can be recast when the movie universe is rebooted in 2023.

    • I completely agree with everything @ultimatehoratio said. To think you can just slot a new actor into the Iron Man role and nothing would change is pure naivety. Is part of getting your big break in ANY industry, NOT just acting, partly luck? Of course it is. But you have to have the ability in order be in a situation where luck matters. Are there talented actors out there who will never get their big break? Certainly. But to say one of those unknowns could just step in for RDJ, who is largely responsible for the current succes of the Marvel Cinematic U, really shows a lack of understanding about film and audience expectation.