Marvel just confirmed how Iron Man might come back to the MCU

One of the most annoying things about old superhero movies is that the audience knows right from the start the good guys will win and the bad guys will be defeated. Not only that, but the titular character will not die, as he or she will have to return for a sequel. It’s not that we want superheroes to die in these movies, but we know that the Batmen and Spider-Men of the world are in no real danger. They might suffer and they might be injured, but they’ll make it to the sequel. And when the story is done, you reboot. Superman’s death in Batman v. Superman might have been an odd exception to the rule, but we already knew from the scene at the end of the movie that his death would not stick.

That’s where Marvel’s MCU shines. The stakes feel more authentic in these movies, and that’s because Marvel has achieved so much success with its Cinematic Universe, well beyond what other studios were able to pull off. Marvel took lesser-known heroes and turned them into stars who make former Batman and Spider-Man characters pale by comparison. And Marvel created so many interconnected stories that are all on converging paths. With so many characters on hand and plenty of Marvel comics material to work with, Marvel stunned the audiences when it off killed half of the the Avengers. The characters stayed dead for five years in that timeline and bringing them back would require additional sacrifices. That involved Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) dying heroically in Avengers: Endgame to get the job done. That was a fantastic exit for these characters, who were later joined by Captain America (Chris Evans) when he retired from the team.

We’ve kept hearing that Marvel might want to bring back Iron Man and the original Cap in future stories and we've seen rumors explaining the ways it can be done without ruining Endgame's legacy. While we have no confirmation on the matter, Kevin Feige’s latest comments about Loki practically confirm that Marvel can bring back these characters anytime it wants to with ease.