The Marvel Cinematic Universe

[Riku'sTwilight]

Broad title I know, but I couldn't think of a way to phrase what I wanted to say in a neat, catchy title so you get what you're given.

While reading various articles on the upcoming Phase 2 movies it soon dawned on me that we're probably going to get trilogies of the main three (Iron Man, Thor and Captain America) of which Iron Man is at its final part now, with maybe one more showing of Iron Man in Avengers 2 and then quite possibly no more Iron Man *for a good decade* the reason being is Robert Downey Jr.

He only had an X amount of film contract with Marvel, and while sure they could renew it and make him sign up for more but he is getting on a bit, and so 5 movies (by Avengers 2) and he would have done the character more than enough justice to retire.

The same goes for Thor and Captain America to an extent, though their respective actors are a lot younger, but still - movies aren't comics and the actors cannot go on forever.

I postulate that we will have 5 Iron Man appearances, maybe 7/8 Thor and Captain America appearances and then by the time those happen we will easily be into phase 4 and phase 5 in which time we will have seen a plethora of other characters to which Marvel could use to flesh out the Avengers/Other Superhero Teams and continue on the legacy of the MCU.

As said previously, in a decade after Avengers 2 with Downey's 5th Iron Man appearance you could by all means have someone else play him and continue on Iron Man stories as if nothing ever happened a la James Bond.

What do you guys think? How long can the current trio of Iron Man/Thor/Captain America be on our MCU screens?

 

[Ranorak]

Well, as for how long the actors will last, I don't know.

But seeing the source material, I'd see no problem in a movie where Robert Downey Jr passes on the Iron Man torch to someone else.
I mean, they basicly have their own universe now. Kinda like the Ultimate Universe, no need to hold on to established lore from 616.

 

[agentironman]

I remember reading an article about Iron-man where Kevin Feige stated something along the lines of having RDJ playing the role for as long as he wanted (although I thought he had a 7 film deal, remember the cameo in Hulk) and then from there doing what James Bond franchise does by having new people coming in and taking over the role without any rehashing of the story. Which I could find the link but it was months ago.

 

[RufusMcLaser]

The MCU has already set and reinforced the precedent for replacing actors when needed (see Rhodey and Bruce Banner), so it's feasible from that standpoint. The studio will have to weigh how many tickets are sold on the basis of Downey, vs. the Iron Man character himself.

 

[Snownine]

I don't see anyone playing Tony Stark as Well as Robert Downey Jr. They may replace him at some point out of necessity be it contractual or otherwise, but the lovable arrogance he gives the character would be very hard to duplicate.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Well, as for how long the actors will last, I don't know.

But seeing the source material, I'd see no problem in a movie where Robert Downey Jr passes on the Iron Man torch to someone else.
I mean, they basicly have their own universe now. Kinda like the Ultimate Universe, no need to hold on to established lore from 616.

Yeah, they can easily have him recruit an Iron Robin to take his place, or something similar (Someone steals a suit, the plans get leaked on the internet and someone builds their own, the American government finally gets some and a pilot gets assigned to SHIELD, etc.)

Or they can just go the Hulk route; if an actor does not do well or wants to retire, Marvel seems more than willing to replace them without any canon explanation.

 

[BrotherRool]

Keeping Iron Man after Jr has gone would be a testament to their writing abilities, never has a film relied so heavily on one actor =D The plots were always boring, people came for the wacky antics (and for me, also Pepper Potts). They could do it, they can marital together some fantastic writers, Captain America and The Avengers showed that, but it'll be hard.

Saying that I do believe they can get several more films out of him first.

I wonder if Superhero popularity will remain high though, we've been heavily saturated in recent years and with Warner Bros making a Justice League push and the other studios determined not to lot Disney get their hands on more of the rights, we're only going to see more going forward. Maybe the boom will die down and the Marvel Cinematic Universe will have to shrink a bit in a couple of years time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The MCU has already set and reinforced the precedent for replacing actors when needed (see Rhodey and Bruce Banner), so it's feasible from that standpoint. The studio will have to weigh how many tickets are sold on the basis of Downey, vs. the Iron Man character himself.

Don't forget Spidey's recasting/rebooting.

 

[WolfThomas]

As said Marvel is willing to recast. Obviously RDJ is their biggest star, but if it's a choice between less money or no money, they'll take the former. They could always replace him IN an Avengers movies (like say 3), see how people respond before greenlighting another film.

 

[Queen Michael]

Just let Rodey take over, like in the comics.

 

[Hoplon]

The MCU has already set and reinforced the precedent for replacing actors when needed (see Rhodey and Bruce Banner), so it's feasible from that standpoint. The studio will have to weigh how many tickets are sold on the basis of Downey, vs. the Iron Man character himself.

Don't forget Spidey's recasting/rebooting.

Not Marvel though is it. Making the films that is.