Iron Man 4 is going to be the fourth installment in the popular Iron Man franchise of superhero movies. However, the future of this movie is still not confirmed as rumors are doing rounds that Robert Downey Jr. might not reprise the role of Iron Man and his alter ego- Tony Stark for the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. has been playing Iron Man since the first movie of the franchise which was released back in 2008. Since then, he has dawned the role in two more Iron Man films and also two Avengers films.
His latest outing as Iron Man is in the movie Captain America: Civil War which has just hit the big screen in some parts of the world. Downey Jr. has won kudos from fans and critics alike for his portrayal of the role of the armored superhero. It can be stated that he has immortalized the character in some form on the big screen.
Various reports suggest that Downey Jr. feels that he is too old to put on the armor suit once again. The actor is currently 51 years old and it does not look like that the filming of Iron man 4 can begin before 2019. By that time, he will hit the 55 years’ age-mark and quite naturally he will not be as agile as required to play the armored superhero onscreen.
Moreover, the actor is set to appear in two more superhero films under the Marvel banner which are- the two parts of Avengers: Infinity War. The movies are scheduled to hit the big screen in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
So it can be seen that the actor will be involved with the filming process of these movies and he might not be able to squeeze out time to shoot for the fourth installment of Iron Man. This has led to speculations that Iron Man 4 will star a different actor in the lead role.
However, fans are quite skeptical regarding the idea as they believe that the charisma and screen presence that Robert Downey Jr. possesses cannot be matched by any other actor. D
Even the renowned director Joe Russo feels that it will be difficult to find a replacement of Robert Downey Jr. for the role of Iron Man and Tony Stark. While talking about the matter he stated– “It’s almost impossible to replace Robert, he’s the biggest movie star in the world. One close up from Robert is worth another actor’s entire performance, he’s incredibly gifted and insanely talented. I think if and when he is done with the character I think you will find that Iron Man might disappear for a while.”
He also added that a number of other films featuring other Marvel characters might be released before another Iron Man movie happens. If indeed Downey Jr. decides to hang up the iron suit, it will be in the best interests of Marvel that they reboot the entire franchise and start afresh with a younger actor.
All being said, reports are coming in which suggest that Marvel might decide to push forward with Iron Man 4 without Downey Jr. If indeed this happens, Marvel will most likely take this decision keeping in mind the busy schedule and age of Downey Jr.
It was previously reported that marvel will release three films in 2020 itself. All three films are unannounced and speculations are rife that one of the three films will be Iron Man 4. Two other films that will be released by Marvel are- Cyborg and Green Lantern Corps which will release on April 3 and June 19 respectively.