The fate of the "Iron Man" franchise remains to be a hot issue amongst Marvel fans. Many are still waiting to know if Robert Downey Jr. remains to be the man behind the red suit, as there are speculations that a 15-year old girl, named Riri Williams, will take over his role. The news was met with varying opinions and even Downey himself gave his own two cents.
Critics probably hated the idea of the replacement, but according to Cinema Blend, Downey thinks that Williams will make a bad-ass Iron man. The actor even posted about his reaction in his official twitter account:
Get ready for a new generation of Marvel BAMF... pic.twitter.com/nMChfQkh0n
- Robert Downey Jr (@RobertDowneyJr) July 7, 2016
Many have responded negatively to his tweet about supporting the new lead, but their reactions were expected. Williams' quick rise to the Iron Man status is a bold move for Marvel Cinematic Universe, and proves that they are pushing hard to gain independence from Marvel's comic book universe.
The same source reported that the move had them accused of making changes for publicity's sake. But perhaps the announcement was to already set the expectation that Downey will be passing on his suit to someone else in the anticipated "Iron Man 4."
The character Riri Williams was first revealed during "Iron Man's" creator Brian Michael Bendis interview with Time. He reveals that the character is a science genius who enrolls at MIT at the age of 15. She engineers her own Iron Man armor in her dorm, which drew the attention of Tony Stark. Her character also made a debut appearance in the recent issue "Invincible Iron Man No. 7," which was released in March.
The recent announcement could indeed be an indication that Marvel wants to continue with "Iron Man 4" even if it means that Downey will be passing the suit to someone else.
