Avengers 4: 8 Clues For What Happens Next

7. Tony Stark Exits The Franchise (Alive)

Robert Downey Jr. has flirted with exiting the MCU countless times before, but there's something about Avengers 4 that makes this potential one feel all the more genuine.

The actor, now in his tenth year as Iron Man, looks set to meet a better fate than some had previously speculated however. Stark had long been predicted to meet an untimely end at the hands of Thanos prior to Infinity War's release, and while that moment did come dangerously close to happening, the film's ending has only teed up the character's most heroic moment yet: saving the lives of half the universe.

That, more than anything, entitles the character to an early retirement. But where Steve Rogers looks set to meet a sacrifice in Avengers 4, owing to both Evans' desire to explore directing and the fact that his character would never have a reason to stop being a hero, Tony has an out. He's a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist first and foremost, and with Iron Man 3 having set the character up for such a retirement, the door is still open for such a thing to happen.

Him and Pepper are clearly destined for a happy ending, and with Gwyneth Paltrow having possibly let slip that Tony and her are due to have a child, a retirement and subsequent exit seems more and more likely by the day.