Iron Man's New Suit Is the Perfect (But Creepy) Design for Robert Downey Jr. to Return to the MCU

Summary Tony Stark introduces a new Iron Man suit that could potentially be used to bring back Robert Downey Jr.'s MCU portrayal of the character.

Tony Stark's latest armor allows him to taunt Feilong remotely, immune to his attacks, with a holographic head projecting his face.

Avengers: Twilight comic shows a dark version of Tony's resurrection, with his brain and chest preserved in a tube by his son.

Warning: Spoilers for The Invincible Iron Man #20 and Avengers: Twilight #1!Iron Man is known for constantly tweaking and upgrading his suits, keeping his tech on the bleeding edge of the future. As seen in The Invincible Iron Man #20, Tony Stark's latest armor could be smartly used by the MCU to resurrect Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of the character after dying in Avengers: Endgame.

In the previous issue, written by Gerry Duggan with art by Andrea Di Vito, Iron Man buried Feilong alive in a coffin in the Australian Outback. This issue reveals, however, that Tony has provided his nemesis with a somewhat more merciful sentence - solitary exile on the planet Arakko.

Feilong is trapped in a glass house with no exits, left to live out his days by reading Tony's new autobiography, playing chess, and maybe writing a full confession. Rather than seeing him in person, Iron Man “visits” via his brand new armor - a headless model that projects his face as a hologram.

Iron Man's "Headless Armor" Could Bring Back Robert Downey Jr.

Panels from The Invincible Iron Man #20 by Gerry Duggan and Andrea Di Vito

In the MCU, Tony Stark loved playing around with AI - creating not only JARVIS, but also Ultron and Vision. It's not outside the realm of possibility, especially before the final standoff with Thanos, that Tony would create some kind of mental scan to back up his mind and personality. The universe has no shortage of geniuses, so Shuri, Riri Williams, and soon Reed Richards could easily figure out how to make a Tony Stark cyborg. An Iron Man armor like the one that appears in this comic would be somewhat ghoulish, but a feasible way the MCU could “bring him back.”

In Invincible Iron Man #20, Tony is still alive and well, of course. He created this armor specifically to visit/taunt Feilong; it's immune to Feilong's blasts, and the holographic head means he can still arrogantly show his face to his enemy without having to travel. Feilong's high-tech prison must have been built before the final big battle against Orchis, as it would have taken time to perfect, and Feilong would need to be contained as soon as possible. Therefore, Tony may have also built this armor as a back-up in case he died. Luckily, he gets to use it to FaceTime instead.

Avengers: Twilight Showed an Even More Terrifying Way of Holding On to Iron Man

Panels from Avengers: Twilight #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuña

This isn't the only way the MCU could learn how to bring back RDJ from Marvel Comics. Avengers: Twilight, by Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuña, features an even more horrific resurrection of Tony Stark. James Stark, his son, has Tony's brain and chest preserved in a tube, so that he can get technological inspiration from his dad by keeping him alive and captive. In this dystopian version of the future, James is even more arrogant than his dad. Conversing with him via an Iron Man helmet, he makes sure to hold onto his fortune and power by distributing mass weapons to the world.

There would have to be a big time jump or some time travel shenanigans to get an adult child of Tony Stark, but that is not outside the realm of the latest events in the MCU. Robert Downey Jr. was an important part of making the MCU as successful as it was, and since his departure, the movies have underperformed or bombed. Maybe Disney should turn to the comics for some brilliant tech that can be found to keep Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in the MCU.

The Invincible Iron Man #20 is available now from Marvel Comics.

The Invincible Iron Man #20 (2024) Writer: Gerry Duggan

Artist: Andrea Di Vito

Colorist: Bryan Valenza

Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna

Cover Artist: Kael Ngu