Film Opinion: Time to stop creating a new ‘Iron Man’?

As rumours have begun to circulate about a return of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), many fans are wondering if new material will ruin the character's legacies. Both characters died during 'Avengers Endgame (2019)' but current Marvel boss Kevin Feige said a project with Scarlett Johansson is already in the works, and when it comes to Robert Downey Jr, “we’ll see”.

The original 'Avengers (2012)' film is over a decade old, but many of the main characters are still big players in the MCU, with stories of their own. One example is the self-titled ‘Loki’ series on Disney Plus, which finished last week. Avengers co-star Jeremy Renner also had his solo moment with the TV show ‘Hawkeye (2021)’ which added more to his character. Last year saw the release of ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, which ended with Chris Hemsworth’s character setting off on a new adventure (and a mid-credit hint to a potential sequel). And while Captain America also bowed out of the franchise during Endgame, Chris Evans has been confirmed to be making some sort of appearance in the upcoming ‘Captain America: Brave New World’.

Other characters like the Hulk, who failed to get their own projects, are still active participants in the MCU. It stands to reason that as two of the most popular Avengers of their time, a return to screens for Black Widow and Iron Man is conceivable. There was even a Black Widow film, ‘Black Widow (2021)’, set before the events of Endgame, showing Marvel unafraid to bend the timeline to create new content.

But what would a new Iron Man film do? Some fan-made trailers have speculated that it would consist of Tony Stark passing on the Iron Mantle to his children, though this idea was already explored slightly with Tom Holland’s Spiderman. And would it be worth it? Aside from, say, ‘Wandavision’, only a few recent Marvel projects have managed to impact people the same as Sony’s current ‘Spiderverse’. Despite having the same amount of time, and potentially more funding.

Perhaps it’s time that Marvel prioritised quality over quantity.

Edited by Anna Cao