The writers of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, explained why Marvel Studios opted out a fourth Iron Man, pointing to the brand recognition and loyalty built up by the MCU, which allowed the freedom to branch out to riskier properties, like Guardians of the Galaxy.
“You would’ve already had Iron Man 4 if it was any other studio,” McFeely said in 2019. “But they decided, No, we’re going to take chances on all these other things. To put a flag in the ground and say, We’re going to end something and take characters off the table, is, I think, kind of daring, but selfishly it was really great for us.”
Another reason Iron Man 4 didn’t end up on the film slate is that Downey’s contract was negotiated to prioritize the Avengers movies and his appearances in other projects, like Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
In the process, Downey became one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors due to his work in the MCU.
Iron Man was relied up to not only to help strengthen the connections the films in the cinematic universe, such as with the blockbuster crossovers Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame, but to also create new ones, such as with his pivotal mentor role in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which fully brought Tom Holland’s Peter Parker into the MCU.
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