Robert Downey Jr. says he would “happily” return to the MCU if he was asked to.
Speaking with Esquire Magazine, Downey Jr. was asked if he’d be open to returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe following his recent Oscar-winning performance as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
“Happily,” Downey Jr. said. “It’s too integral a part of my DNA. That role chose me. And look, I always say, Never, ever bet against Kevin Feige. It is a losing bet. He’s the house. He will always win.”
What MCU movies was Robert Downey Jr. in?
Downey Jr. made his MCU debut as Tony Stark in 2008’s Iron Man. Following a brief cameo in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Downey Jr. then reprised the role in two direct sequels, 2010’s Iron Man 2 and 2013’s Iron Man 3.
He additionally appeared in 2012’s The Avengers, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
While Tony ultimately sacrifices himself for humanity in Avengers: Endgame, there were previously rumors that Marvel Studios may be looking to somehow bring Iron Man for a future project — potentially an Avengers movie with the original cast from the 2012 film.
No such project has been confirmed at this time. Feige downplayed the rumors when speaking to Vanity Fair in December 2023, saying, “We are going to keep that moment [Tony Stark’s death] and not touch that moment again We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”
In Marvel Comics lore, Tony has direct connections to Riri Williams/Ironheart, who made her MCU debut in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The character, played by Dominique Thorne, is now getting her own MCU series, which could open the door for some sort of cameo from Downey Jr., though this has also not been confirmed at this time.
