Marvel’s The Avengers was a success on nearly every level when it hit theaters last year, and so it sets a high bar for Marvel’s other superhero films going forward. In addition to trying to top the quality of the Joss Whedon-helmed epic, future standalone films now have to face the problem of “Well if he just called in his pal Thor, this whole problem would be solved right away.” The first standalone movie out of the gate post-Avengers is director Shane Black’s sequel Iron Man 3, and Marvel president Kevin Feige has been adamant about IM3 being its own thing in relation to The Avengers.
During a recent interview, star Robert Downey Jr. was asked if we might see any cameos from his Avengers buddies in the upcoming sequel, and he may or may not have provided a bit of a hint. Hit the jump for more.
Speaking with EW, Downey Jr. was asked if we might see any of the Avengers in Iron Man 3:
“The whole Avengers thing [with $1.5 billion in global box office] was such a relief and such a confirmation of [Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige’s vision for this all along. As Kevin has put it, the next step after that is to bring in someone like Shane Black and – without pretending that the Avengers don’t exist – find a way to go back to a kind of re-investigation of Tony’s world, which he thought would be, one, fun for the audience and, two, would rock in a different way than The Avengers. But we can’t help it — everywhere you look now in every Marvel movie there are opportunities where certain new pals of his could be useful. So they’re in the atmosphere, so to speak, but I wouldn’t expect to see them on the ground in this one.
Though he doesn’t outright confirm anything, I find Downey Jr.’s use of the words “in the atmosphere” and “not on the ground” rather curious. We know that Marvel is moving into a more universal direction with the space-oriented Guardians of the Galaxy and a possible Thanos battle in The Avengers 2, and the next Marvel film after Iron Man 3 is the Asgard-set sequel Thor: The Dark World. Could Downey Jr. be referring to a character/characters that is/are literally in the atmosphere in Iron Man 3 or am I just reading way too much into this?
Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m incredibly interested to see how Marvel handles the film’s post-credits tag. Phase One was all about building to the grouping of the team in The Avengers, so what will Phase Two built towards? Hopefully we’ll find out when Iron Man 3 hits theaters on May 3rd.
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Just throwing this out there, but having someone “in the atmosphere…but not on the ground” could just mean that the hero doesn’t show up, but there are still cameos. Perhaps have Hank Pym working at Stark Tower before he becomes Ant-Man?
Oh look Robert Downey Jr. is playing himself in yet another Iron Man movie. Zzzzzzzzz. This guy used to be a great actor.
Well, the latest Guardians of rhe Galaxy series has Iron Man in it. So, maybe Stark joins them in Phase 3? Maybe even at the end of The Avengers 2?
I get the feeling that The Avengers has forever trashed the Iron Man series.
Iron Man 2 trashed the Iron Man series.
In my estimation, both Iron Man movies are the only decent Avengers-related movies. (that includes the wildly overvalued Avengers itself)
Perhaps a scene where the Avengers meet on the Helcarrier “in the atmosphere?”
helicarrier???
What I see as reason for iron mans friends not to be there is capt2 and Thor 2 take place aroun the same time as this, the question is will the address why shield or banner are not available?
Could it be Thor helping Tony out with a storm? I mean, atmosphere screams weather to me, and since Storm isn’t a possibility, Thor is the next best bet.
I think you guys are reading way too much into this. When he says “in the atmosphere” of the movie I’m betting he means on TVs playing in the background and what not (like how we saw the Hulk incident that was playing on the news in the background in IM2)
i was also thinking that. or maybe he talks to Banner on the phone for like a minute at the beginning of the movie
screw you RDJ for not doing INHERENT VICE! you dare turn down PTA!
would someone PLEASE ask him about Inherent Vice?????????
I think “in the atmosphere” means you will be aware of their presence, i.e a call with Banner, or watching footage from the New York attack (The Avengers) or possibly news reports of another minor incident of some sort including Cap or the rest of the team. Although having Stark being the one to introduce the audience to The Guardians would make sense as he’s the most successful in terms of box office or the most recognizable out of the team (meaning most movies so far).
But I don’t see how they can totally ignore the rest of the team and have Tony go solo, so having them “in the atmosphere” could work.
The Sub-Mariner………