One of the never-ending topics in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since last year is "Iron Man 4." Is it going to happen? If it does, will Robert Downey Jr. still play Tony Stark? If he won't, who will replace him? If there won't be a fourth movie, what will happen to the franchise? The questions just go on and on, and Marvel doesn't have any solid answers yet.
But maybe, Iron Man himself has the spade. Back in September 2014, when Downey was promoting his movie "The Judge," "Iron Man 4" became a topic in one of his promo interviews. Variety asked him if the fourth movie is going to happen, he gave a very definite answer.
"There isn't one in the pipe. No, there's no plan for a fourth 'Iron Man."
He was then asked if he'd like the idea of another actor playing the role of Tony Stark, to which Downey jokingly answered, "I like that the idea is that it would be up to me, like I'm casting director for Marvel."
Later, Downey was singing another tune. When he appeared in "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the movie became a topic once again. When Ellen asked him if there's going to be an "Iron Man 4," this is what he said:
"I know there's going to be a bunch more Marvel movies. [Marvel] have big ideas of how to do it best and we're in the middle of negotiation..."
Ellen followed it up by asking "So, yes?" To which Downey replied, "Okay, Yes!"
Downey's statement put fans into a frenzy. However, it is uncertain if Downey was telling the truth or just teasing (because he told David Letterman otherwise). Further, it is not sure if he would be playing the iconic superhero or will just be helping Marvel in another way.
Elsewhere, actor Jeff Bridges, like everyone else, wants "Iron Man" to have more follow-up films. Bridges played Obadiah Stane or Iron Monger, Iron Man's first villain.
In a talk with io9, Bridges said, "The Iron Monger falls into this big pit of whatever it is... they pull it up in the big crane and they open up his costume and he's gone. And when we were shooting that film they said, 'No, we're not going to do that. We're just going to have you go.' And I said, 'Oh shit, I was kind of disappointed.' Because I was thinking [I would] be in the sequels. But they said it's a comic book, maybe the Iron Monger will come back."
Since there is no "Iron Man 4" in the phase three slate, it could be that the movie (if there is one) may happen after 2019 or it could be a surprise movie from Marvel that was also rumored before.
