Why 'Iron Man 4' Should Totally Happen

Robert Downey Jr.: Actor. Highest paid actor in Hollywood. Native New Yorker. Brief Saturday Night Live-er. And now, superhero of seriously superhuman endurance: After he played Tony Stark for over 10 years, a behind-the-scenes look at Captain America: Civil War, shows Downey saying “I feel like I could do one more,” with regards to the Iron Man series. Yup: we could potentially see Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 4!

This is excellent news for fans who may have thought that Downey was ready to call it a day after three Iron Man movies. This was certainly the impression Downey gave in an interview with USA Today in March 2016 when he was asked about another installment of Iron Man:

I don't think it's on the cards. In a way, it’s Cap 3 but for me it’s like my little Iron Man 4 and then it’s back to the thing we all recognize. Everything pulls over to the side of the road when the thunder of an Avengers thing comes through because that’s how it is until it changes. If it changes.

But it raises the question: Do we need a fourth Iron Man movie? Absolutely, we do! Here are the compelling reasons why:

We Haven't Yet Seen Much Of Pepper And Tony Together

The Iron Man series is bursting at the seams with action, but doesn't have a lot of time for much else. Which is a shame, because Pepper Potts is great and I'd like to see her get more screen time. Isn't the whole point of modern superheroes that we see them not just as heroes, but as flawed, struggling humans? What's more human than battling your significant other for control of the remote? More of this, please.

The Franchise Needs To Fix That Whole Mandarin Mess

Comic book fans weren't so into Iron Man 3 's massive twist, that (spoiler) Ben Kingsley's Mandarin (Stark's classic nemesis in the comic books) was just an English actor hired to play the villain to distract from Aldrich Killian, the film's actual baddie. A fourth film could be a chance to elaborate on this plot, and set it right for fans.

As The Internet Has Noticed, There's A Whole Lot Of Iconic Storylines That Haven't Made It Into An Iron Movie Yet

Moviepilot cites "Armor Wars," which "used Tony Stark's worst fear against him. The fear that somebody else would get their hands on the Iron Man designs," among other classic story arcs. Whatculture thinks that given that comic book Stark is a womanizer, Pepper and Tony Stark's relationship issues in Iron Man 3 signals he'll be onto a new girlfriend (or two) by the fourth installment. Annnnd, over at Reddit, user portrap thinks "Ghost would be a great secondary villain."

I think we can all agree: In a world of hundreds of superhero movies, Iron Man feels that little bit more special. And Robert Downey Jr.'s five-karat charisma has a lot to do with this.

Images: Marvel Studios (2), Giphy