10 Bold Predictions For Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 And Beyond

9. Rhodey Will Become Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. was 43 when he first took on the role of Iron Man in 2008 and if, as expected, his contract with Marvel sees his final appearance as the character happen in the third Avengers movie in 2018, he'll be 53. It's hard to see how he can keep playing the armoured superhero beyond that point. But can we really see the franchise killing off the Iron Man character? It seems unlikely thanks to the absurd amount of money that the movies have brought in and the general popularity of the character amongst audiences. And who better to take over from Tony Stark than his best friend €“ a man who already wears some Stark-Tech armour of his own €“ James "Rhodey" Rhodes? The handover would be as close to seamless as such a handover could be and in giving the title of Iron Man to an already fairly popular character, there'd be no risk of a new actor becoming extremely unpopular with audiences (and, of course, Rhodey has had the Iron Man mantle in the comics, so it would be staying true to the source material). You're probably thinking "but Don Cheadle is a year older than Robert Downey Jr." That's true - but the difference is that we already know that the character of Rhodey can be portrayed by a new actor without audiences revolting (thanks to the character not yet being anywhere near as iconic as Downey's Stark), so a younger one could be brought in.