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Iron Man was the first recruit to the Avengers as Nick Fury suspected a danger greater than anyone could conceive. This ended up being true on multiple counts. Fury's hopes of recruiting Iron Man turned out to be the key to saving everything from Thanos, as Tony Stark restored balance in the universe while sacrificing himself in the process.
Robert Downey Jr. played the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in such a way that finding anyone to fill his shoes is next to impossible. Fans have been asking: "Is Iron Man really dead?" To answer this, we must consider that with the doors to the Marvel multiverse open, we will likely see versions of Tony that might bring the glory of the character back to the MCU.
In subsequent MCU projects after Avengers: Endgame, we've seen that Tony's absence still haunts many of our heroes. In this article, we explore all the possible ways for Iron Man to return to the fold of the MCU.
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A look into Tony Stark's aka Iron Man's death, and likely return
Is Iron Man really dead?
At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark took the leap he was afraid to take. We saw the man who kickstarted the Avengers along with S.H.I.E.L.D sacrifice himself for the greater good.
So, unfortunately, yes, Iron Man is dead. However, as we saw in the film, when Tony Stark went back in time, he found himself in 2012, negotiating with Alexander Pierce. Furthermore, when Loki finally broke the last line of defense against multiversal intervention, he opened the doors to many more variants than he could have imagined.
Does Tony Stark come back to life after Endgame?
What If...? started as a series exploring multiverses in the Marvel universe. However, as more and more episodes were released, we found out that it was connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and all of it was canon.
This means any of the Iron Man variants we've seen so far could easily make their way into the MCU if circumstances were to change. The executive producer for the series, Brad Winderbaum, explained that the series is canon to the MCU.
"It’s no coincidence that the show picks up right after Loki. The multi-verse has erupted in every possible direction. What If…? gives us a chance to explore that. Without going into great detail, I can tell you that What If…? as a project [and] as a story that exists in the MCU is as important as any other. It’s woven into that same tapestry. So, there’s a lot of potential."
We also know from Spider-Man: No Way Home that the further apart the universes are, the more different they are from each other. That's why Earth-616 and Earth-838 Dr Strange were similar to each other.
It's also interesting to note that every single version of Tony Stark died in the series. This seems to point to a larger problem with the Stark Industries' owner within the universe.
Incursions in the MCU
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced us to the Marvel multiverse, and we even got a full visit to Earth-838. That's where Wanda Maximoff followed America Chavez and Doctor Strange and put a proper onslaught on the Illuminati.
John Krasinski's Mr. Fantastic warned Strange that messing with the order of things could lead to incursions. Universes can collide and bring possible destruction to either of them.
Many fans believe that incursions might pave the way to Secret Wars, and that's when we might see another variant of the armored superhero. Tony Stark is an essential Marvel hero, and there's no way that his journey in the MCU is finished.
Iron Man will return, but as a different variant
There are a number of afterlives in the MCU. There's the Astral Plane in Black Panther, Valhalla for warriors who pass away in the war, and then there are instances of resurrection, as showcased by Thor: Love and Thunder and Marvel's Moon Knight.
While it's unlikely that Tony Stark ended up in Valhalla, a revival is possible. It's been three years since the events of Endgame, and the world is still grieving his loss. It's unclear how we might see Tony Stark back at it again, but several options are always there.
Even if we don't get Robert Downey Jr. back, other variants (such as the massively rumored Tom Cruise variant) might be possible down the line.
