When Robert Downey Jr.'s contract expired after filming "Iron Man 3" fans were worried that they would have to accept someone else trying to fill Tony Stark's suit of armor in the upcoming second Avengers movie, or worse yet, that the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist might get written out of the script altogether. Those worries were cast aside when Marvel Studios announced that they had reached a two-picture deal with Downey to appear in "The Avengers 2" and "The Avengers 3," according to Entertainment Weekly.
Downey was reportedly paid $50 million for the first Avengers film, details were not released as to how much the actor will make in the sequels.
Downey always seemed enthused to continue to portray Tony Stark.
"I'd go start another one tomorrow, but it's not tomorrow," Downey told Entertainment Weekly after "Iron Man 3" debuted. "And there are a lot of other considerations. But I also don't like the idea of leaving people hanging or leaving people in the lurch."
The president of Marvel Studios, Keven Feige, that while the studio was hopefully that they could keep Downey in the fold that he didn't see replacing the actor as deal-breaker going forward.
"I believe there will be a fourth 'Iron Man' film and a fifth and a sixth and a 10th and a 20th," Feige told Entertainment Weekly. "I see no reason why Tony Stark can't be as evergreen as James Bond. Or Batman for that matter. Or Spider-Man. I think Iron Man is a character just like that."
The one thing that is still unclear is if Stark will reprise the role for a fourth "Iron Man" film. While Marvel has not announced that they are planning on a fourth film in the franchise any time soon the comments made by Feige, as well as the $1.2 billion that "Iron Man 3" has made so far, according to IMDB.
