Robert Downey Jr. reveals whether he would return to Marvel as 'Iron Man'

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Will Iron Man return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? The verdict is still out. 

Since Iron Man’s tragic death in "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), Robert Downey Jr., who played the character over a span of 11 years, has been asked time and time again if he’d return to the role if the opportunity presented itself. 

Very shortly after his character’s departure from the MCU, Downey appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience," where Rogan took the opportunity to ask the actor if he would ever return to the role he played for so long. 

Robert Downey Jr. earned his first Academy Award for his part in "Oppenheimer." (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

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"To me, starting up again is off the table, I feel I’ve done all I could with that character. There would have to be a super compelling argument and a series of events that made it obvious… but the other thing is, I wanna do other stuff," Downey said at the time.

And he sure did do other things. In 2023, Downey played Lewis Strauss in the blockbuster movie "Oppenheimer." This role earned the star his first Academy Award.

Post Academy Award win, Downey's answer to whether he’d ever return as Iron Man seems to have swayed slightly.

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"Happily," Downey aid in an interview with Esquire published on April 8 when asked if he'd return to the MCU. "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."

Robert Downey Jr. told Esquire that he would "happily" return to the MCU. (Ray Tamarra/Getty Images)

Just because Downey is open to a return, it's unknown at this time if the resurgence of the character will present itself in future movies.

"We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again," Feige told Vanity Fair in December 2023 of Iron Man's death in "Avengers: Endgame."

"We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way," Feige said. 

Downey's venture as the superhero started in 2008, when the first feature film, "Iron Man," was released. He also played the character in "Iron Man 2" (2010) and "Iron Man 3" (2013).

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He was also in "The Avengers" (2012), "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019). Other Marvel movies Downey Jr. played a part in were "Captain America: Civil War" (2016) and "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017).

Robert Downey Jr. played Iron Man in three feature films and multiple other Marvel movies.  (Jesse Grant/WireImage)

So far, there are two more "Avengers" movies on the way, "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty," planned for 2026 and "Avengers: Secret Wars," planned for 2027. There haven’t been many details released yet about the cast and plot for these upcoming films.