Robert Downey Jr. Will Reprise Iron Man in a Unique Way
By now, most of us know that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. (If you somehow missed that news, here’s RDJ’s epic reveal at San Diego Comic Con a couple of weeks ago.)
However, the Academy Award-winning actor isn’t quite down with Iron Man just yet. At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, it was revealed that Downey Jr. will portray Tony Stark again. This time, he’ll be doing so in the form of two new rides in the works at Disneyland.
People reports, “Iron Man: Avengers Infinity Defense will see guests travel across the multiverse to New York City, Asgard and Wakanda to battle with King Thanos. And then there’s Stark Flight Lab, where guests will sit in two-person pods to be deployed to a test station.”
The rides will be part of DisneylandForward, a massive expansion project for the theme park that will cost a whopping $1.9 billion and will be implemented over the next 10 years.
As for Downey Jr.’s next adventure on the silver screen as Doctor Doom, Avengers: Doomsday is currently slated to hit theaters in May 2026. Doctor Doom will also be featured in Avengers: Secret Wars, which is currently set for release in May 2027. How Doctor Doom factors into the films is unknown. There are speculations that his existence is tied to Tony Stark, and there might be some fiddling with the multiverse.
A shake-up within the MCU might just be what is needed. Plenty of pieces have been written about comic book/superhero movies waning in popularity. Slate published one, as did Variety, Forbes and Fortune. Some films did underperform, like Eternals, The Flash and The Marvels.
However, the major success of Deadpool & Wolverine shows that there’s still plenty leftin the tank, but there might need to be a new approach to things. In his piece ‘Marvel Movies: Is There Too Much Backstory?,’ our own Brian Ives cites a quote from Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. He told Phase Zero of the MCU, “It’s not all required viewing. People say, ‘superhero fatigue.’ I actually think it’s ‘having to do homework fatigue.’ These are all individual stories that are meant to be enjoyed as singular entities. The connectivity is a bonus and something that people like, and I like it and I think it’s one of the singular defining notions of the MCU.”
People have enough on their plates as is in their own lives to then have to study up to just go to the movies for some escapism. Tell a good story that stands on its own. That’s the key here.