Robert Downey Jr.'s announcement hints reason why there will be no 'Iron-Man 4'

[Photo credit: Marvel]

Recently, Marvel Studios announced its movie schedule for the next five years. But fans might have noticed, there's no "Iron Man 4" on the list. Could it be true that Robert Downey Jr. will no longer play Iron Man in a fourth installment, or simply, that there's really no "Iron Man 4" planned?

Downey recently made a game-changing announcement. He said he will play Iron Man nine times. Doing the math, there's three for the "Iron Man" films, then there's one for "The Avengers," one for "Avengers: Age of Ultron," one for "Captain America: Civil War," and two for "Avengers: Infinity War." That's a total of eight so there's one more appearance left.

According to Movie Pilot, this appearance may just be the bonus movie from Marvel Studios, which is "Civil War 2."  "Civil War 2" is a good theory since the July 2016 release is timely. It will be two months after the first "Civil War" movie is released. Also, Movie Pilot thinks that the storyline for "Civil War" cannot just be completed in one movie.

Moreover, many people are questioning the schedule of the movies for Phase Three. In 2017 and 2018, there are three movies planned to be released: one in May, one in July and one in November. But in 2016, the July movie is missing and this has gotten many people wondering why Marvel suddenly dropped a movie.

Then of course, there were past statements from Downey himself about playing Iron Man and "Iron Man 4." Now, Downey's statements begin to make sense when one puts them together.

In an appearance in "Late Night with David Letterman," Downey confirmed that "There's no plans for an Iron Man 4... There's nothing for Iron Man 4."

The schedule is consistent with this statement, too.

However, Downey did say, "There'll be other stuff... I'm going to do other stuff with Marvel. I'm still going to be involved with Marvel."

This surely points to the other Iron Man appearances he will make.

Therefore, there will be no "Iron Man 4," or at least not in the next five years. However, having "Civil War 2" may just be the best consolation from Marvel Studios if "Iron Man 4" is not in the works.