It does sound as though the MCU is already planning for a replacement of Iron Man’s character, but one thing that stands in the way of this is what the fans are going to think. As little as the MCU tends to think of this at times (oh, it’s true), they still have to be thinking that introducing someone that the fans aren’t going to take to could happen, and it could be a big reason why another Iron Man-like character might not work simply because he was the glue that held the team together in a big way, and while he wasn’t the first Marvel character on the big screen, he became the unifier for a cinematic universe that catered to his character far more than the comics ever did. It’s more than just a general love for the character that might make this transition tough, it’s the fact that Robert Downey Jr. actually became this character for a decade while on screen. Here are five reasons why Iron Man can’t be replaced.
5. He was a unique character.
This could be said about a lot of characters, but the truth is that when it comes to Iron Man one has to realize that while he was a rich man in a suit, he was also highly intelligent with very human flaws that were displayed in more than one way over the years. He wasn’t a Batman or a Superman or any other hero since his faults were there to be viewed by anyone and everyone, and yet his intelligence and ingenuity were on display quite often as well. Tony Stark and Iron Man were deeper characters than many others since they had to evolve from one movie to the next in order to show how his attitude had changed toward the world in general.
4. Barring his intelligence, Tony Stark was an influential presence in the MCU.
This is the kind of guy that could drop a million in a casino and not even blink, or create a weapon that could clear a cave system of every possible enemy that was still in hiding and then tip back a cold one while talking about world peace. He wasn’t the type of rich tycoon that made something people wanted and got rich off of it. He kept making things and revolutionizing the world around him as much as he possibly could. And on top of that, he bankrolled the Avengers, a team that cost so much to put together that simply trying to tally it all up would be enough to give pretty much anyone pause.
3. War Machine is more brawn than brains, whereas Iron Man had both.
It’s great to have all the bells and whistles that come with a character like War Machine since the guy is tough and insanely effective. But while War Machine has the firepower and the capabilities of Iron Man in a lot of ways, there were always things that Tony’s suits could do that ended up being even more impressive since his continued improvements to each suit were so insane that War Machine was kind of like a bazooka compared to a swarm of nanobots that could consume whatever was placed in front of them. In other words, War Machine is great, but Iron Man was usually leagues ahead in terms of tech.
2. He became a central figure to the Avengers.
In truth, he was the guy that really sparked the Avengers initiative after Fury decided to get them together since he was the guy that started up the MCU. The way that things went made it clear that SHIELD had already been looking at starting up the initiative for a while. But Iron Man became the guy they came to in an attempt to get the tech, though Tony made it clear that they couldn’t have his tech without him, so despite how things were supposed to go according to SHIELD’s reckoning, Iron Man became a central figure to the team before there ever was a team. So far, no one else has been able to step up in this same manner.
1. Finding someone as convincing as Robert Downey Jr. is going to be tough.
There have been a couple of attempts so far, but the sheer charisma and confidence heading into this role were impressive to see when displayed by RDJ since he took on the character and made it his without any question. Finding someone else that can do the same thing in their own way is going to be rough since so far it doesn’t appear that there’s been anyone that can exude this kind of confidence when it comes to this type of character. If someone is found then so be it, but until then, it becomes a simple matter of realizing that Tony Stark became a one-of-a-kind character. Creating a new character with an iron suit, that’s possible, but Iron Man needs to remain a legend.
Fury
