Ever since Iron Man saw his heroic demise inAvengers: Endgame, Marvel fans have been left with a bittersweet feeling that has been hard to shake off. While his death brought the Infinity Saga to a full-circle conclusion, it was hard to accept that Iron Man would no longer be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future. But a recent development could hint that his story is not yet over - a Marvel merchandise leak seems to have spoiled the beloved Avengers' previously confirmed return to the MCU in the Disney Plus’What If…?series.
A Lego set that was revealed on Instagram depicts a rather peculiar scene involving Iron Man in the Sakaarian suit accompanied by Valkyrie and Uatu the Watcher. The prevailing theory is that these characters will be involved in some sort of plotline for Marvel Studios’What If…?animated series, which will explore alternate realities within the MCU. The scene is a nod toThor: Ragnarok, where Chris Hemsworth’s Thor crash-landed on the planet of Sakaar and wound up getting involved inthe Grandmaster’s Contest of Champions. He ended up facing off against his own friend, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, in a comedic sequence that remains to be one of the highlights of Phase 3.
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TheWhat If…?retelling of that scene could involve Iron Man landing on Sakaar instead of Thor, which would then explain the Sakaarian suit. Of course, none of this has been confirmed by Marvel itself, but the Instagram account which revealed the Lego set has been proven correct with some of its leaks in the past. Should the rumor ring true, we might be seeing Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as Iron Man, albeit in animated form.What If…?might also be agood workaround to Tony Stark’s death inEndgamesince it plays on alternate realities that should not necessarily affect the main timeline (as far as we know).
Adding to the intrigue is a prior statement by Jeff Goldblum,who portrayed the GrandmasterinThor: Ragnarok. Back in 2019, he told Buzzfeed that he would be returning to the MCU alongside Robert Downey Jr. While explaining the animated series, he said thatWhat If…?will feature “all the characters we know and love from Marvel” and that there will be an episode that includes the Grandmaster and Iron Man. “Robert Downey will do a voice for that,” he confirmed.
If RDJ can come back as Iron Man in animated form, who’s to say he can’t come back to the MCU in live-action as well? It’s a long shot, but there’s always the chance that Marvel hasmore planned for Iron Manthan we think.
