The MCU is never far away from rumors about the possible return of former stars such as Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans in some form later in the Marvel franchise despite their deaths following the close of Phase 3. However, when it comes the idea of Downey Jr bringing Iron Man back to help the fight against Kang in Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel Studios executive Stephen Broussard has some sobering news for fans of the Marvel icon. He told io9:

“If you look at, like, Cassie [Lang in Quantumania] getting a suit and Kate Bishop [in Hawkeye], new characters being introduced like Jack in Werewolf by Night. After these first 10 years of Marvel storytelling, torches are being passed, like with Robert Downey Jr. no longer being [on the] table and stuff like that. So it was kind of like a new generation stepping to the forefront which, again, has always happened in the comics. Now that those players are on the board and there’s a big bad coming [in the form of Kang the Conqueror], it’s about like, ‘What are they going to do with that? What are they going to do with this power?’ Because as you know, perhaps you’ve heard. With great power…[comes great responsibility.]”

For many fans, Phase 4 has failed to land, with a combination of over expectation and a pull-back in scope leading to some believing that the Marvel bandwagon could be coming off the rails. However, Kevin Feige has described that phase as something of a rebirth of the franchise, and this is something that fits very much with Broussard’s comments about Downey Jr.
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Related: Robert Downey Jr. Praises Jon Favreau for Taking a Chance on Him During Walk of Fame Ceremony

One Marvel Star Would Love To See Robert Downey Jr Return As Iron Man.

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While promoting Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Jonathan Majors revealed that he would love to see Downey Jr reprise his role as Tony Stark in the upcoming Avengers movies The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. He said:

This is like a Robert Downey Jr. day, he just keeps popping in [to my head]. Like, I know he’s an OG. I mean, he’s one of the originals. I’m just such a huge fan of him as an actor. I think what he did with Iron Man was such a gift to the culture at large. I would love to be across from him on screen to see how our philosophies, acting-wise and character-wise, just personally, match up. You know, I find him to be such a fascinating artist, which is why Iron Man is so fascinating. His portrayal of Iron Man is so fascinating, and he represents a very clear world view and energy of the Avengers. And I think Kang represents a different era. It’d be really interesting to see those two kind of come together and have a bit of conversation.”

However, for now it seems that the chance of Robert Downey Jr making any kind of appearance as Iron Man seems to be out of the question, and it is much more likely that some other long-standing characters could meet their end in the climax of the Multiverse Saga.