Howard Stark Actor Down to Take Over Iron Man

Most comic book fans associate actor Dominic Cooper with Jesse Custer, thanks to starring in Preacher since 2016. Devout fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe might remember that Cooper debuted in the MCU as Howard Stark back in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, a role which he went on to reprise in the TV series Marvel's Agent Carter. Actor John Slattery played the older version of the character, most recently in Avengers: Endgame, and with Tony Stark's death and with Preacher coming to an end, Cooper will have some openings in his schedule and he wouldn't mind returning to the MCU to play a new character, including Tony Stark.

"Lots and lots, any please," Cooper replied to ComicBook.com when asked about other MCU characters he'd like to play. "I loved that character. I felt very honored to have been given that character, and I didn't realize quite what I was entering at the time, I just loved playing him. And we got the spinoff TV show with him as well, and I hope there is a way that he exists again sometime in the future. He's fun. His son would be quite an interesting character to take on."

Howard's appearance in Endgame isn't the last we'll see of him, as we learned this year at San Diego Comic-Con that he would be appearing in the upcoming animated What If...? series that will debut on Disney+. We also learned that Cooper will be the one voicing Howard in that series.

"I've stayed in touch with everyone there and there's exciting things, or prospects, that could happen, and as you know, in that universe anything could happen, I think that's why it's maintained, and remains so exciting because it continually surprises and something unexpected happens," Cooper pointed out. "[Including] the idea of him coming back, or something else in the future."

While it's unclear when What If...? will debut and details about Howard's involvement have yet to be revealed, we wouldn't be surprised to witness an animated interpretation of Howard potentially developing the Iron Man technology ahead of his son, possibly allowing us to witness Cooper becoming Iron Man.

In the meantime, fans can enjoy Cooper in the final season of Preacher, which airs Sunday nights on AMC.

Would you like to see Howard Stark return to the MCU? Would you rather see Cooper take on Tony Stark? Let us know in the comments below!