Will Iron Man Be a Skrull in Black Widow?

Earlier Saturday, one Hollywood trade reported Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man might not be done in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after all; in fact, he could be showing up in Marvel Studios' next film in Black Widow. Since we all know Tony Stark is more dead than ABC's chances at renewing Inhumans for a second season, we've got to ask the question: was the Stark that snapped in Endgame a Skrull?

Before you click out of this article to rage tweet me based off the headline alone, you should know that no, it's all but guaranteed Stark's legitimately dead and he is in no shape, way, or form part of the shape-shifting alien race. Even if the actor does indeed show up in Black Widow, it's for a completely logical reason — Black Widow takes place before Avengers: Infinity War.

In fact, Black Widow star David Harbour previously explained to us the ballpark timeline this movie takes place in, saying it'd allow fans to see why Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) made the choices she did in Avengers: Endgame, a series of events that ultimately led to her untimely death.

"It's great because you get to go back a little bit in time with her, right?" Harbour said. "And you get to explore these events and that's one of the things that was interesting to me in the movie was because you know the events of Endgame so you get to explore how she got there and how she got there to make that choice."

"I think that's the interesting part of her narrative is that we get to go back and explore this period of time between the events of Civil War and that particular arc," he continued. "One of our things is we've known each other for a really long time and that relationship plays into the stuff that's come beyond. The great thing about knowing the end of an arc, you get to go back and either foreshadow or play against it and it's very joyful for fans to see these moments or prepped character beats come in at times."

Black Widow hits theaters May 1, 2020.

Future Marvel Studios projects include The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.

What Marvel characters do you think they'll eventually retcon as Skrulls? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!