Avengers: Endgame broke the hearts of many fans when Tony Stark sacrificed himself to save the universe from Thanos and his allies. After that, the question on everyone's mind has been if we are going to see the Iron Man armor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again. It remains to be seen if Don Cheadle's James Rhodes will don the War Machine suit again since Endgame was the last movie in his contract , though a negotiation between him and Marvel Studios could potentially be in the works. Gwyneth Paltrow has also been confirmed to exit the billion-dollar franchise so the chances of seeing Pepper Potts suit up as Rescue again is zero to none. While the return of Robert Downey Jr. as the armored Avenger could still be a possibility down the road, a new report may have confirmed the next person who will don the Iron Man armor for the meantime.
NEWS
In a new report from Cinema Spot , insider Thomas Polito revealed that a Disney+ series revolving Ironheart is in "active development with a target shooting date sometime next year" . Polito also shared that Marvel Studios "was taking pitches but that a writer had yet to be formally attached as showrunner" and the show has no release date yet.
WHAT THIS MEANS
This could be the answer to the lingering question among the minds of many fans: Who will be Iron Man's successor in the MCU? For those unaware, Ironheart revolves around 15-year old genius Riri Williams, attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who builds her own armored suit based on Iron Man's armor. Given that the Riri Williams character wasn't mentioned during the Infinity Saga, giving the character her own Disney+ series will allow fans to become familiar with her backstory and motivations.
Many fans believed that Tom Holland's Spider-Man would become the next Iron Man since the character has been Stark's protege ever since Captain America: Civil War . However, as fans saw in Spider-Man: Far From Home , the film established the webslinger as its own hero. As smart as Peter Parker is, he doesn't have the same genius-level intellect that Tony Stark has thus making Riri Williams, who is a genius in her own right, the prime candidate to be the next armored hero. While Stark is dead in the current MCU timeline, his armored suits aren't and the rumored Disney+ series presents a lot of opportunity to further explore some ramifications.
Last year, Robert Downey Jr. campaigned that Ironheart should be in the MCU. Given that, this can also provide the chance for Downey to return as an AI to guide the young genius just like in the comics. With shows such as She-Hulk and Hawkeye , the theme of the current slate of Disney+ series currently revolves on passing of the torch from one generation to another. If this rumor is true, an Ironheart series fits right into that category and would certainly excite fans everywhere.
MCU and STAR WARS Writer
