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Robert Downey Jr. insists he's done with Marvel and Iron Man, but...

There's still that possible Black Widow scene, and maybe Ironheart voice work?

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper
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Don't expect to see Robert Downey Jr. back as Iron Man.

Marvel

Robert Downey Jr. keeps saying it, but fans don't always want to believe it. The actor reaffirmed once again Tuesday he's put Iron Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe behind him. In an appearance on the SmartLess podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, Downey said his MCU time is "all done." 

Downey first played Tony Stark and his super alter-ego in 2008's Iron Man, the first film in the MCU. His apparent last major appearance as the character came in 2019's Avengers: Endgame

CNET sister site ComicBook.com reported that Downey has a cameo in Black Widow, which is scheduled to be the first film in MCU's Phase 4. Originally scheduled for a May 2020 release, that film has been postponed until November 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. ComicBook.com notes that appearance could be a deleted scene from Captain America: Civil War deleted scene in which Stark advises Black Widow herself, Natasha Romanoff, to go on the run, setting up the actions of her standalone film.

Watch this: Marvel's Phase 4 plan explained

Back in January, Downey was a bit more vague about returning as Stark, telling Hoda Kotb of NBC's Today Show that "we'll see."

ComicBook.com has also speculated that Downey could be heard voicing the artificial intelligence used by RiRi Williams/Ironheart if a film is made of that character. Downey has said publicly that Ironheart should be an MCU character.

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