Avengers: Endgame gave us a tearful goodbye to Robert Downey Jr.’s live-action portrayal of Tony Stark, who died whilst wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. While there are currently no plans for RDJ to return to the MCU, one theory suggests that the actor will appear in future features - but not in a physical way♌.
Stark’s death is ranked high in the list of MCU tearjerkers, right next to Peter Parker’s final words before disappearing during the Blip. Tom Holland h🦄as hinted that t🍌he waterworks will continue in Spider-Man: No Way Home this December, but can anything be more tragic tܫhan Parker’s last few moments with Stark? Iron Man was the 2008 feature that started the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, therefore, it was a fitting but nonetheless heartbreaking e😼nd for the character to meet his demise in the Avengers’ final chapter.
Stark left fans with the iconic “I love you 3000” line, and now the Marvel community has begun debating his return. One theory that has received a fair amount of attention regards the recent release of a Shang-Chi action figure from the Marvel Legends Series, which shows the image of an AI version of Tony Stark on the back of ꧙the box. The host ꩲof YouTube’s Beyond the Trailer Grace Randolph posted an image of the box on Twitter, reiterating her prediction that Stark will return to the MCU as an AI. This theory actually makes perfect sense, since Stark’s Iron Man has always been accompanied by AI assistants, including J.A.R.V.I.S. (who evolved into Vision) and F.R.I.D.A.Y..
The next question on everyone’s mind is who will Stark be serving as an AI? Since he is on the box of Shang-Chi’s action figure, could Stark have a cameo in the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? The Master of Kung Fu may not have a direct connection to the Avengers, but perhaps Stark will surprise us like he did with his first cameo in the end credits of 2008’s The Incredibleꦚ Hulk. There’s also the Black Widow film to consider as a possible platform for a Tony Stark cameo, where the narrative is due to take place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.
On the video games front, Tony Stark's Superior Iron Man suit is the next skin in line to come to Marvel’s Aven🐻gers. The black-and-silver desiꦫgn is not an exact match with the comic book suit, but it still looks impressive with its upgraded Arc Reactor.