Gwyneth Paltrow Claims There Won't Be an 'Iron Man 4' — Should We Believe Her?

On Thursday, Bleeding Cool reported that Iron Man 3 star Gwyneth Paltrow let it slip during a press junket for the upcoming Marvel movie that she believed that Iron Man 3 would be the last time we saw Tony Stark on the big screen.

Paltrow dropped the bombshell pretty nonchalantly: "I don’t think there’s going to be [an Iron Man 4]. I think we’re done with Iron Man."  Check it out for yourself in the video at the foot of this page to see just how sincere she’s being. It seems clear to me that she really believes this.

Both Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr.'s contracts with Marvel were fulfilled with Iron Man 3, and Downey has frequently mentioned lately how he's getting ready to hang up the Iron Man armor. After Iron Man 3, Downey will have played the character in three Iron Man movies, one Avengers movie and even tossed in a stinger cameo at the end of The Incredible Hulk. If the actor wants to move on from the role, I think he's earned that right. During his interview in this month's edition of GQ, Downey talked about moving onto other films and even the possibility of winning an Oscar or two in the future. Iron Man is an awesome character to play, and the role resurrected Downey's career, but he's not going to win an Oscar for it.

As for Paltrow, I think we need to take what she says with a grain of salt. Or, maybe a bag of salt, as the actress doesn't exactly live in the real world. If you're at all familiar with Paltrow, you know that her life is full of oddly named children, the belief that she can rap along with Jay-Z and shelves with that promise to put all holy books on the same level. Forgive me when I don't really believe that Paltrow speaks for the entire Disney/Marvel machine, especially not when Marvel honcho Kevin Feige has already made it quite clear that the studio won't reboot parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, choosing to recast roles if necessary. Marvel isn't going to stop making Iron Man movies just because Paltrow decides she's done.

Here's my prediction how this all works out: Downey will return for The Avengers 2. Director Joss Whedon has already started working on that one, and I'm pretty sure he'd want to know whether or not his biggest star is coming back. After that, we'll get Iron Man 4, which will be Downey's farewell. With much of Marvel's Phase Three already being carved out by the cosmic and mystical — Ant-Man and Doctor Strange have been slotted for this phase — Marvel will need one surefire hit, and Iron Man 4 would be that hit. Not to sound ridiculous, but Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be too far off for Iron Man 4 when taking Downey's age into account. If he's going to play Tony Stark one final time, it's not going to be when he's 60. And, interestingly enough, four Iron Man movies and two Avengers installments would give Downey six outings as Iron Man — the same number of times Sean Connery (officially) played James Bond, a character who has found eternal life through recasting.

And what about Paltrow? Pepper Potts is a nice character, but if Paltrow wants to walk, let her. There are plenty of actresses who would love to get a role like that.