Avengers 4: Could Iron Man survive through the finale?

People seem to think that Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man will not survive the finale of Marvel Studio’s Avengers 4, but there are good reasons he could stay on.

Iron Man has been at the center of the Marvel Cinematic world for a long time now. He kicked off the beginning of the last twenty Marvel films and was even there to usher Spider-Man into the Avengers. It might seem natural for him to exit at the big finale of Avengers 4. However, if the comic book source material is any indication then Tony Stark will still have a lot to do with the future of these movies.

Most recently in the comic books, Stark was put into a coma at the end of the second Civil War and was being kept alive by machines. I doubt he will face exactly the same fate, but it could be smart for Marvel to keep this character alive.

It might be time to pull the focus away from Iron Man, but that doesn’t mean he has to die. I could see Robert Downey Jr. taking a break from these films and letting someone else share the limelight, but think of how exciting it would be to see him return. The character of Iron Man is still in a bit of quandary. I mean he was basically one of the villains in Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming seemed like he was on the road to rehabilitating his image.

Stark and Pepper Potts were the first real MCU couple to get together and it doesn’t seem right to just say goodbye to that relationship. Perhaps Tony could become injured and still participate in the Avengers in an advisory capacity. He could be the ultimate man in the chair. Currently, the woman who took over for Iron Man, Riri Williams, has a holographic copy of Tony’s brain that is helping train her and replace him as Iron Man. Robert Downey Jr. could continue in the MCU as simply a sort of ghost in the machine.

Next: Avengers 4: Could Captain America survive through the finale?

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was a bit of a revelation. It saved his career and brought a whole young audience into the world of superheroes. Downey has become synonymous with Stark at this point. All of the charity work he has done in the name of Iron Man has helped a lot of people. As epic as it might be to watch Tony sacrifice himself for the Avengers, I don’t think it is required. Iron Man started the Avengers and it could be powerful to see him continue the team for the future adventures to come.