Many have speculated that Robert Downey Jr.'s time as Iron Man may be soon coming to an end, but it looks like Marvel managed to convince the actor to appear in at least one additional film beyond Avengers: Infinity War parts one and two.
The Hollywood Reporter states the actor has struck a separate deal outside of his existing Marvel contract to appear in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The website doesn't go into the specifics of the deal, but no doubt Downey will be earning a pretty penny given his previous contract figures.
The news matches up with recent remarks from Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. He recently said that other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters would appear in Spider-Man's Marvel debut, and this news further confirms it. Iron Man will likely be the first of several Marvel characters to join the film.
That Iron Man in particular is to be included in Spidey's new solo film is especially fitting given that Tony Stark plays a key role in introducing Spider-Man in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War.
For years Sony owned the film rights to Spider-Man, which is what prevented the web crawler from appearing in Marvel's cinematic universe despite the character long being Marvel's poster boy. In Spider-Man's absence, Iron Man became the glue that served to hold the entire film franchise together. That Iron Man will play a role in Spider-Man's "homecoming" into the Marvel universe proper is oddly fitting in that regard, and will perhaps serve as a passing of the torch.
Downey has been looking to step down as Iron Man for a while now. With Tom Holland's already critically acclaimed performance as Spider-Man in Civil War making headlines, perhaps the Marvel Cinematic Universe no longer needs Downey as it once did.
In other Spider-Man: Homecoming news, rumors have pegged classic Spider-Man villain Vulture as set to appear in the film. Whether or not those rumors are true remain to be seen, but a high-flying battle between Iron Man and Vulture sounds great on paper. Spider-Man: Homecoming is scheduled for a summer 2017 release.
