There’s a huge question mark on the future of the Iron Man franchise. Robert Downey Jr was only contracted with Marvel Studios up through Iron Man 3, and now that the film is making mountains of cash all over the world, it’s obvious that Marvel will want to keep the Armored Avenger around.
Currently, Downey and Marvel are in the midst of contract negotiations, but these negotiations only go as far as The Avengers 2. And given how one of Downey’s terms is that his co-stars in The Avengers 2 get more money, with the infamously-frugal Marvel opposed to such a move, that means there’s going to be more than a small amount of head-butting.
But absent from these discussions is Iron Man 4—it’s all about The Avengers 2. Going beyond the money issue, Downey himself has acknowledged that his age is a factor—he’s pushing fifty. And we all know he can’t play this role forever. But Marvel’s Kevin Feige has said he wants Iron Man to have as long-lived a film franchise as James Bond, which means that eventually, recasting will be necessary.
The question is where would the Iron Man films go from here? I thought on that, and came up with five storylines from the comic books that I think would make great fodder for the next phase of Iron Man movies. You can go read the full article at WhatCulture!