Marvel Fans Have Taken Their Iron Man Pleas To A Whole New Level
In case you missed it, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) dies at the end of 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," sacrificing himself to save humanity (and the whole universe). It's been almost two years to the day since the box office smash landed in theaters, but for some Iron Man fans, two years just isn't long enough for them to accept his fate. Some have grieved for Tony and respected that the character's complicated and satisfying story arc is well and truly complete, but others are going to whatever lengths they can to try to get the powers that be at Marvel Studios to bring Iron Man back for future films (and maybe even TV series too).
Though Downey Jr. himself has said "never say never" to coming back into the MCU, it seems all but certain that Tony is dead — just as dead as every dead animal that has ever died. Of course, in the superhero genre, no one is ever really dead for certain, as many comic book characters have come back from the other side more than once. There are some fans banking on this proving true for Iron Man, and they're now campaigning in a creative way to show everyone how much they want Tony back on their screens.
Tony Stark stans are paying for advertising in hopes of bringing him back
On April 22, the Lights, Camera, Pod Twitter account posted a picture of a massive billboard in Los Angeles that's calling for the return of Tony Stark to the MCU. "For our beloved hero. Please bring back Tony Stark. #BringBackTonyStarkToLife," the billboard reads, fit with an arc reactor as its background. The sign also has the date April 24, 2021 written on it, likely the day when the campaigners are looking to make their hashtag trend on Twitter.
Is Marvel Studios going to bring Tony back solely because of this billboard? No. Is it a valiant — yet bizarre — effort? Yes.
The truth is that Marvel boss Kevin Feige knows how to deliver on what audiences what, but bringing Iron Man back from the dead could anger fans who are perfectly content with how everything went down in "Avengers: Endgame." Plus, many MCU fans are already clinging to the hope of Chris Evans returning as Captain America, after Deadline reported he was heading back into the role for two more movies. (Marvel hasn't confirmed this, and Evans himself has said it was news to him.) The likelihood of both characters resurfacing? Slim. It's either one or none, and it's looking like the latter will be the case.