Avengers Endgame didn’t see the Marvel superheroes defeat Thanos without some terrible sacrifices. Not only did Black Widow give her life so that Hawkeye could obtain the Soul Stone on Vormir, but Iron Man died in his Snap that killed the Mad Titan and his armies. But this May a Black Widow solo movie will hit cinemas after a year’s delay, with a storyline set between the events of Captain America Civil War and Avengers Infinity War.
There have been rumours rumbling for over a year now that Robert Downey Jr could have a cameo in the Black Widow solo movie.
And while far from certain that hasn’t stopped the most dedicated fans from speculating about how this would come about.
The most obvious way Iron Man could feature is by a deleted scene or reused moment from Civil War, however a popular new theory argues that Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff will meet in the Soul World during a flash-forwards to after their deaths in Endgame.
Reddit user NotsofunnyMayank writes: “There were some speculations that RDJ will have a brief cameo in the Black Widow movie.”
READ MORE: Avengers Endgame theory: Thanos lost as Soul Stone came by Black Widow
The theorist continued: “So there’s a little chance that it’ll be a post-credit scene in which he meets her after the Snap.
“I’m saying this because there was a deleted scene in Endgame where Tony meets his daughter Morgan in the Soul World.
“After watching that scene a lot people thought that Tony should have met Natasha just like Thanos met Gamora after he snapped his fingers because Natasha is the one who died for the Soul Stone.”
If this is the case, perhaps such a scene could be a fitting farewell to Scarlet Johansson’s character?
The most obvious ways Iron Man, and even Black Widow, could return is via time travel or an alternate version crossing the multiverse.
After all, the reality that 2014 Thanos left, to travel to the main timeline’s 2023, will have experienced the Mad Titan just suddenly disappearing one day.
This means that the events of Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame would not happen in that reality, so Tony and Nat are still very much alive there.
With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness released in cinemas next March, perhaps alternate versions of the characters could even pop up there.
Or maybe a future Avengers movie could see the deceased Marvel superheroes borrowed from the past for a future fight against another big bad like time-travelling villain Kang the Conqueror?
He’s set to enter the MCU soon in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, so no doubt will be meddling with the timeline as in the comics.
But perhaps the most fitting way for Tony Stark to return would be in Disney+ show Ironheart, following Riri Williams, the black female Iron Man.
In that comic book storyline, she’s mentored by an AI of Tony, so maybe Downey Jr could lend his voice?
READ THE FULL THEORY HERE