Iron Man has been a major reason for the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, launching it in 2008 and saving its existence in 2023 by Avengers: Endgame logic — but it’s time we let this character rest. It’s no secret, I’m a big Iron Man fan. Team Iron Man was the right team in Civil War (unless of course you’re okay with someone killing your parents and your best friend covering it up). The character has done more than enough for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, sometimes a little too much, and it is time for Robert Downey Jr.’s iconic character to take a break.
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Iron Man has been a major player in the MCU since its very launch in 2008, this whole thing might not exist without Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. At a minimum, it would all be very different. The MCU’s world doesn’t need this suit of armor around anymore, though.
Iron Man has gotten 3 movies of his own, basically got half of a Captain America movie for his story. He was pretty much the lead, if not one of the supporting leads, in four Avengers movies. Honestly, the only character you could say played more of a role in one of those is Thanos. He essentially took Uncle Ben’s job in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which I was really fine with because I’m not a extreme purist who needed to see Uncle Ben die again and I was okay with Tony and Peter’s relationship shaping both Peter and Tony’s lives.
But then Tony also created the villain of Spider-Man: Far From Home and who knows, he’s probably going to be involved in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings since the Mandarin in and the 10 Rings were not only a part of Iron Man and Iron Man 3 but also are very common major villains for Tony Stark in comics. Not to mention, Ultron.
What was the one thing Pepper Potts told Tony when he died after sacrificing himself for everyone? “You can rest now.” Let the man rest. What did we do in Far From Home? We zombified him. Okay, yeah, a Marvel zombies reference is cool but now it’s time to call it.
We have so many awesome characters coming to the MCU. Ms. Marvel will almost certainly have some sort of Iron Man merch because she’s going to be such a big Avengers fan. His legacy will be in tact and present. I did a whole video about how Taskmaster could be getting photographic reflexes from Stark tech for Black Widow and I honestly just hope I’m wrong at this point. We don’t need the first Phase 4 movie to be so focused on dead characters. Black Widow deserves a movie, Taskmaster is a great villain, let them do it on their own.
With a third Spider-Man movie on the way, this is where Peter needs to really emancipate himself from Tony and finally operate independently. Everyone is always out here calling him Iron Man Jr, orIron Boy ( hose people have to chill). Spider-Man isn’t a perfect adaptation of comics by any means and he’s definitely not the same version we saw when Sam Raimi was making movies but the Homecoming series has been good so far and Tom Holland is near perfect for this role.
But, at the end of the day, it’s time for Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Thor, and the leader of Wakanda to be lead the way. Of course, this would have be Black Panther, but the future for that character is uncertain in the wake of losing Chadwick Boseman, and I’d rather show respect and wait to see what Marvel decides to do with the character and story, rather than speculate or try to shape your opinion with my own.
What do you think, can the Marvel Cinematic Universe let Iron Man rest and give some other characters time to shine? Do you want to see Tony Stark again, even if it’s through a multiverse story where he never died or maybe never became Iron Man? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram!
