'Iron Man 4' Rumors: Robert Downey Jr Questions Leaving Tony Stark Behind, Will Marvel Studios Retain The Fan Favorite? [VIDEO]
Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. are inextricably linked for Marvel fans, but the actor may soon split from his heroic alter ego.
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There is no doubt that the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist will continue to zoom around movie screens for many years to come, but Downey just may not be the one behind the mask. Or will he? Downey's cryptic answers regarding his future show he's definitely been operating under Marvel Studio's strict code of secrecy for a tad too long.
"It's that thing of: Why give up the belt when it feels like you can barely get jabbed?" Downey asked Entertainment Weekly, although he quickly added his own knock-on-wood addendum. "Most people are saying that right when they get knocked out."
While Downey waits to see if the Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President of Production; Ike Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel Entertainment; and Disney come up with a Iron Man 4 proposal, the actor has acknowledged that his advancing age may eventually knock him out of contention.
"The smart money is you have to look at everybody's age. I'll put myself at the top of the list," Downey explained to Variety. "Sooner or later, they've got to start over and get somebody young. I'm not there with them yet. It really is the closest thing to being a beloved contract player with a big old-timey studio that there is right now. When you really think about it at the end of the day, these films are entertainment largely driven by young folks."
Moving forward, Marvel Studios appears to have four options - keep Downey, cast a new Iron Man, move on to Arno Stark (find more information here), or end the franchise entirely (highly unlikely, particularly considering Iron Man 3's box office numbers).
Unfortunately, it looks like fans will have to wait until after May's Avengers 2 to find out what the future holds for Downey and Stark.
