Gavin Logan on whether anyone really cares about Iron Man 4…
I love Robert Downey Jr., I really do and hand on heart I don’t think anybody could’ve pulled off Tony Stark to anywhere near the degree of perfection that he did. RDJ’s suave, obnoxious and extremely funny portrayal made Iron Man one of the most popular superheroes around. Without RDJ and Iron Man who knows where the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be right now. The possibility of a fourth solo outing has been rumoured pretty much ever since the third one hit theatres worldwide with both Kevin Feige and RDJ giving little away. One minute it’s on, the next it’s off and then it’s back on again. Then just a few short days ago RDJ publicly admitted that Iron Man 4 is not happening, contradicting previous comments he made the day before on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Call me insane but as much as I love RDJ I can’t be the only one getting a little bored of all this back and forth nonsense and contrary to what RDJ said on The Late Show it really feels like Marvel definitely don’t have a plan for Iron Man. Surely it’s completely inconceivable for them not to have a plan…?
The first Iron Man movie was great and still probably ranks in the top 3 or 4 Marvel movies to date. The second was a little underwhelming but still entertaining nonetheless and the third was the most successful of the bunch, despite the rather controversial “twist” involving Ben Kingsley and The Mandarin. As much as I enjoy the Tony Stark character I have to admit that I am slightly apprehensive about the prospect of yet another Iron Man solo outing. Tony Stark and RDJ are at their very best when pitted off against big, powerful characters. Whether it be enemies or friendlies doesn’t matter, Stark needs people to bounce off and I think he is best suited to a line-up type movie.
Stark helped kick off the whole Avengers project with his cameo in The Incredible Hulk stinger. He also had a prominent role in The Avengers and will most likely be the main man in Avengers: Age of Ultron too. And now it looks like he’ll be turning up in Captain America 3, which is supposedly going to tackle the Civil War story. With the inevitable line-up change possibly starting to take shape in AOU, I think I’d like to see Iron Man take a back seat for once and give some more screen time to some new faces. That being the case I’m not sure that a fourth Iron Man movie is wholly necessary.
RDJ may be the face of the MCU for now and it’s pretty impossible not to love the guy but in their attempt to cash in on his popularity they may just end up squeezing too much out of him and tainting the entire character. I hope I’m wrong and despite my reservations you can bet I’ll still flash the cash to see it on the big screen. I just wish RDJ and Marvel would keep their mouth shut until they are ready to make the announcement official.
Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published October 16, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
