After appearing in 10 MCU movies across the last decade, Robert Downey Jr bowed out as Iron Man with an iconic sacrificial death in Avengers Endgame. The perfect way to complete his superhero’s character arc, Tony Stark went from selfish womanising billionaire to self-sacrificial father figure saviour.
But then the news broke that Downey Jr would be back in the MCU for Marvel Phase 4 after all. Well, apparently anyway.
Earlier this month Thor Ragnarok star Jeff Goldblum told Buzzfeed that the star would return to voice Iron Man in Disney Plus’ animated What If…? show.
Goldblum said: “I played the part [of the Grandmaster] again a couple of days ago.
“I went to the Disney Studios and I recorded the Grandmaster’s voice for an episode of a show that’s going to be on Disney+. It’s called What If…?”
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He added: “It’s an animated version of all the characters we know and love from Marvel and this episode included the Grandmaster and Iron Man.
“So, Robert Downey will do the voice on that.”
This bombshell naturally sent Marvel fans wild, but now it turns out that Goldblum may have misspoken.
According to The Wrap: “Disney declined to comment, but a week after this article originally published, an individual with knowledge of the situation told The Wrap that Goldblum misspoke and Downey will not be either voicing or appearing in What If? We will update as new information becomes available.”
The alleged leak comes from We Got This Covered, whose source correctly revealed that Ewan McGregor would return as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Robert Pattinson would play Batman.
Marvel Comics fans will know Ironheart as Tony Stark’s female Iron Man replacement, a black teenage girl called Riri Williams.
And when Tony slips into a coma in the comics, his backed up AI becomes the Ironheart suit AI, just like J.A.R.V.I.S. and F.R.I.D.A.Y.
Additionally, Downey Jr backed Ironheart replacing Iron Man in the MCU just a couple of months ago.
The star made the announcement at the Renaissance Gala at the Gene Siskel Film Centre in June.
A witness tweeted: “The real story here is that @RobertDowneyJr said publicly in a room full of people that #Ironheart should be in the MCU.”
They added: “I went straight back to the press area afterward and was like YOU ALL HEARD IT, WRITE THAT DOWN.”
What If…? hits Disney Plus in 2021.