Downey Jr. Backpedals: No ‘Iron Man 4’ Plans, But ‘Other Stuff With Marvel’ In The Works

Robert Downey Jr. had Iron Man fans on a yo-yo Tuesday, as the megastar initially appeared to confirm that he would be back for a fourth solo Iron Man movie. Later in the day, though, Downey tamped down those expectations, letting fans know that what many thought was a confirmation was anything but.

There was much rejoicing in the land on Tuesday afternoon when Robert Downey Jr. seemingly confirmed a fourth Iron Man movie on The Ellen Show. Fans and observers had been iffy on whether or not Downey would don the armor for a fourth solo flick since earlier this month when he said that there were no plans for a fourth Iron Man film. With rumors floating about that one of the Avengers might bite the big one in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man devotees were miffed that Tony Stark might not live to snark another day.

“Will there be a fourth Iron Man?” Ellen asked Downey, who was non-committal in his initial response.

“I know there’s going to be a bunch more Marvel movies,” Downey said, “and they have big ideas about how to do it best, and you know we’re in the middle of negotiations so…”

Ellen wasn’t having it, though, cutting off Downey with “So, yes.”

Downey acquiesced, to much cheering from the crowd and the internets, but in an appearance on Letterman, he poured cold water on fans.

“There’s no plans for an Iron Man 4,” Downey said. “There’s no script for an Iron Man 4, but [Marvel] does have a plan and I think [Marvel is] going to announce it… they’ve been very secretive about it.”

In case that wasn’t clear enough, Downey expounded.

“Just between us,” he said, asked directly if he was going to do Iron Man 4, “no. But I’m going to do other stuff with Marvel. I’m still going to be involved with Marvel, and there’s going to be plenty of fun stuff to happen.”

What could that “fun stuff” be if it’s not Iron Man 4? Well, the House of Ideas is looking to explode its existing properties into a much wider universe. With a string of hits under its belt and no indication that the hits will stop any time soon, Marvel has already got films slated pretty much into the next decade. Films where Iron Man is sure to play some sort of role.

Downey, of course, will age, and can’t hold on to the Iron Man role forever, but he’s certain to appear in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and he seems like a lock for Avengers 3, whether that’s one film or two films or a massive crossover with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

In short, nobody knows what Marvel is doing unless they’re in on the action, and Marvel is just about as secretive as Apple when it comes to forthcoming projects. Iron Man 4 looks like it’s a definite possibility, but even if another solo Iron Man flick doesn’t happen we can expect to see Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark for a while to come.