Iron Manmay be gone from the MCU, even if Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the franchise in the guise of Doctor Doom, but he lives on in other projects, such as inIron Man and His Awesome Friends, which is set to debut on Disney+ this August. The new animated series aimed at pre-schoolers follows the same kind of aesthetic asSpidey and his Amazing Friends, which originally debuted in 2021, and has already blasted its way into the Disney+ chart thanks to a preview special.
The synopsis of the show reads, “Join young genius inventor Tony Stark (Iron Man) and his team of heroic friends as they embark on thrilling adventures, using their tech, teamwork, and quick thinking to save the day!” Featuring the voices of Mason Blomberg, Kapri Ladd, and Aidyn Ahn, the series brings a colorful, child-friendly spin on Iron Man that looks to engage a new Marvel audience from a young age and set up the next generation of movie-goers.
Marvel Fans' 6 Most Convincing Theories About RDJ’s Doctor Doom
Robert Downey Jr. shocked fans everywhere when he revealed that he’d be coming back to the MCU – not as Iron Man, but as Dr. Doom.
Naturally, the series is not going to be for everyone – especially those without small children, although these days there are manypeople who struggle with the MCU’s multiverse timelinethat might like something a bit simpler to tune in for – but once more expands the reach of the Disney-owned superhero franchise beyond its core PG-13 audience.
Iron Man’s Future in the MCU Is Not So Colorful
One of the biggest challenges facing the Marvel Cinematic Universe is its continuing timeline of events. Kickstarting the MCU in 2008 with heroes like Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America seemed like a good idea, and certainly paid dividends throughout the Infinity Saga, but what happens when the actors playing those characters move on, or become too old to play the roles?
In Marvel Comics, characters are killed off, reborn, redesigned, and have whole decades of their past erased time and time again. On screen, fans aren’t quite as on board with that kind of thing happening. Any recast or reboot comes with a lot of scrutiny, plenty of criticism, and even calls for boycotts of the entire franchise based on one simple or unavoidable casting choice. Yet, it is, in the words of Thanos, inevitable.
Robert Downey Jr. is rumored to be making his controversial return to the MCUin The Fantastic Four: First Steps, when he will assume the role of Doctor Doom. While there are still persistent rumors that a variant of Tony Stark as Iron Man could feature inAvengers: Secret Wars, in the main, Iron Man’s time in the MCU has been and gone, with Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) picking up the tech-genius mantle as her superhero persona of Ironheart. While the next phase of the MCU seems to be heavily focused on the arrival of the X-Men and some of the more supernatural beings in the Marvel universe, it still seems that as the original Avengers all drop out, a full reboot has to be considered to keep the franchise alive.
Source: FlixPatrol
