No Plans for ‘Iron Man 4,’ Says Iron Man

As you probably know, Iron Man 3 was a pretty big hit. And by "pretty big" I mean the fifth-highest grossing film of all time. So it might seem like everyone and their mother would be on board for Iron Man 4. But no, this is not the case.

You see, Marvel had to pay a small fortune to Robert Downey Jr. for the first Avengers film—rumored to be 5-7% of the billion-dollar box office take—and his asking price for two more was so steep that they struggled to reach an agreement. Of course they did reach an agreement eventually, but Marvel was basically over a barrel and had to pay Downy more money than they wanted. Now he doesn't really need any more money or fame, and Marvel doesn't really want to pay it.

So there's that. Then there's the fact that we're not talking about a superhero with special powers woven into DNA or something. We're talking about a smart guy who wears a super suit. And theoretically that super suit could be worn by anybody. And judging by some of the changes they've made to the actual Avengers comics, Marvel may even be preparing the public for such a change.

Now Downey himself has come out and admitted in an interview with Varietythis week at the Toronto International Film Festival that—and I quote—"there's no plan for a fourth Iron Man."

But of course what he really means is there's no plan for a fourth Iron Man involving him. I'd bet a billion dollars (that I obviously don't have, so somebody's gonna need to front me the money) that Marvel will make another standalone Iron Man movie, with or without Robert Downy Jr.