If the rumours are true, it will likely still be a few years before he does return as Stark...
First announced in 2020 as a six-part series due to debut on Disney+, Armor Wars would focus on James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) attempting to clean up some messes left behind by Tony Stark and his incredibly powerful arsenal that had found its way into many, many wrong hands following (spoilers for the biggest film ever made) Stark's death at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Not much else was known about the project, except that it would co-star Walton Goggins, reprising his role as Sonny Burch, last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
During some of the recent Disney and Marvel slate days, Armor Wars was left off their presentations entirely, leading many to believe that the series might have been cancelled altogether.
Turns out that isn't the case, as The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the project has instead been shifted to a full cinematic release instead.
As per the report, Marvel "was committed in getting the story told the right way and in that process realised that a feature was better suited for the project."
This pivot to the big screen has set the rumour mill in motion that it will mark the return of Downey Jr. as Tony Stark to the MCU, but in AI form. He'd be Rhodey's own version of Jarvis, essentially.
We got a glimpse of this at the very end of Endgame, with Stark appearing in holographic form to his close friends and family following his own funeral.
Whether that proves to be the case, we've got a long time to wait to find out. Armor Wars was originally set to begin production in early 2023, but this new announcement has likely pushed that start date further back, and as it stands the project isn't one of the titles confirmed for Phase Five or Phase Six of the MCU.
That means Armor Wars might not be a part of the Multiverse Saga at all, and could potentially not show up in cinemas until 2026.
Thankfully, we will be seeing Rhodey before then, as he'll be a part of Disney+'s upcoming epic series Secret Invasion, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Emilia Clarke, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Colman and Martin Freeman, which debuts on the streaming service in early 2023.
