WARNING: Spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Whether in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness or a future Marvel project, there is a near-constant demand that the MCU instigate Iron Man’s return - but the studio should ensure that this never happens. The first hero to ever appear in the MCU, 2008’s Iron Man introduced a generation to Robert Downey Jr.'s brash Tony Stark and established him as one of the key players over the ensuing 11 years of the franchise. After using the Infinity Stones to wipe out Thanos and his army in Avengers: Endgame, Iron Man’s story arc reached its definitive end with the character’s emotional death. Yet as projects such as WandaVision and Black Widow have shown, an MCU death does not negate any future appearances from the deceased hero.
Ever since the finale of Endgame, speculation has been rife regarding when Iron Man is likely to return. These theories have only gained more traction in the run-up to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where the appearance of the Illuminati presented the opportunity for the MCU to either recast or reintroduce the hero so that he could fulfill one of his key roles from the comics. Doctor Strange 2, fortunately, did not follow such a path, casting heroes such as a Captain Marvel and Mordo variant in the position assumed to be occupied by Iron Man.
However, the potential for some variation of Tony Stark/Iron Man to return to the MCU remains troubling. The character’s iconic send-off in Endgame combined with the chance for future MCU projects to find the hero’s perfect replacement means that an MCU return for Iron Man simply should not be on the cards. Rather than trying to reintroduce the franchise’s first hero, the MCU would be better to allow another character the chance to take up the mantle instead. Here's why Marvel should kill Iron Man's MCU return for good, including who could replace him.
Iron Man’s Arc Ended In Endgame
A common criticism of the MCU is its lack of character development, but for Iron Man, this is simply not the case. Iron Man first introduced Tony Stark as a narcissistic genius, interested only in the most financially lucrative deals and with little concern for who got hurt in the process. Over the course of his three solo movies, as well as playing key roles in the four Avengers films to date, Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Iron Man became a more fleshed-out character with clear political beliefs and overwhelming love for his extended family.
Avengers: Endgame’s ending allowed Stark to make the ultimate sacrifice, saving the planet from Thanos’ plans but losing his life. Established as a family man with many relationships to live for, this finale provided the perfect end to Iron Man’s character arc – both in Tony’s human development and his acts as a hero. There are many iconic Iron Man comics that the MCU was not able to adapt within the hero’s 11-year franchise stint, but despite these potential stories, the hero’s onscreen arc is undoubtedly over.
Recasting Iron Man Would Be Wrong
While there are currently calls to see the MCU reintroduce Iron Man into the franchise, it appears that Marvel Studios disagrees. On multiple occasions, the studio has stated that they will never consider recasting the role, arguing for story development and the franchise’s continued growth as key reasons for this. Until recently – specifically, the Season 1 finale of Loki – the MCU would have struggled to find a logical way to bring Iron Man back into the franchise, but the multiverse changes all of that.
Instead, variants now dominate the MCU landscape. First explored in Loki and then expanded in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the concept means that each universe has its version of any given hero, and with the Multiverse, now open to an infinite number of possibilities, these variants have the potential to appear in the MCU’s main arena. This not only provides the opportunity for the franchise to introduce multiple versions of the same character – as was achieved in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – but it also leaves room for certain deceased characters to make their return.
This, in turn, has introduced a glut of Iron Man recasting theories. The one which gained the most traction online suggested that Doctor Strange 2 would introduce Superior Iron Man – a variant of the MCU hero played by Tom Cruise. Though this did not come to pass in Doctor Strange 2, introducing an Iron Man variant would provide the studio with a challenge – namely, bringing back the character without negating Stark’s poignant death. However, much like a simple recast, even considering this decision fails to acknowledge the multiverse’s strongest narrative gift: why bring back old heroes when it could introduce new ones?
Ironheart Is The Perfect Iron Man Replacement
Instead of recasting Iron Man or bypassing the issue of his death with a variant, the MCU’s top prospect instead lies in Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart. A six-part series announced during 2021’s Disney+ Day, Ironheart is set to be the first project that will star Dominique Thorne as the genius teenager who takes up Iron Man's mantle in the comics. It was later confirmed that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever would mark Ironheart’s MCU introduction, potentially drawing on Shuri’s connections to MIT to explain Williams’ superhero origin.
As a result, this character provides the MCU with the perfect opportunity to continue telling iconic Iron Man stories without the need to recast the hero or rely on variant theories. Once Williams is introduced as Ironheart, the franchise can maintain Iron Man’s legacy and take it in an updated and interesting direction. While very little is known about the plot specifics of either Black Panther 2 or Ironheart, the character is the MCU’s best chance to replace Iron Man regardless.
Tony Stark was such a large part of the first three Phases of the MCU that it makes sense why many would pine for his franchise return. However, these theories and desires risk undermining everything achieved in the build-up to Avengers: Endgame and could potentially damage the impact of any future death in the franchise. With the introduction of Riri Williams, Marvel Studios can instead ensure that Iron Man lives on in the MCU, not through resurrection or recasting, but via an ideal character replacement.
