Thanks to Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau, Iron Man has become the centerpiece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iron Man was the first stone in what would be the foundation for the massively-successful Avengers franchise. And now, despite Iron Man 3 raking in billions of dollars all over the world, the future of the character is somewhat in questionor at least the future as far as Downeys involvement is concerned. Downeys contract with Marvel only covered up to Iron Man 3. Now that hes finished with that movie, Marvel and Downey are re-negotiating the deal for The Avengers 2, but here is where things have become a challenge. Downey wants his Avengers co-stars to get more money, but the infamously-frugal Marvel Studios would rather recast than pay up. Even if an agreement is reached regarding Downeys involvement in The Avengers 2, the question of whether or not hell appear in Iron Man 4 is another matter altogether. Beyond just the financial aspects of this dilemma, theres something else to considerDowney is already pushing fifty, and hes not getting any younger. As much as it may pain a lot of fans to hear, Downey will have to eventually pass on his armor to someone else. Its inevitable and anyone who has seen A View To A Kill will tell you that they don't want to see the same thing that happened to Roger Moore's Bond happen to Robert Downey Jr's Stark. But make no mistake, there
will be an Iron Man 4 at some point. The question then becomes what will Marvel do for it? Despite the opinion of some critics, Iron Man actually has quite a rich comic book backstory, as well as some really awesome villains. Sadly, these days comics of yesteryear have become such a punching bag for creators and Internet critics who claim to be fans, that people forget just how awesome some of those old books were. And Iron Man is no exception, with a great cast of supporting characters and villains and some wonderful stories just ripe for the cinematic treatment. Here are five of them.