Scratch that: Robert Downey Jr. says there are 'no plans' for 'Iron Man 4' | PopWatch | EW.com 

Scratch that: Robert Downey Jr. says there are \'no plans\' for \'Iron Man 4\'

Yesterday, beloved Hollywood icon Robert Downey Jr. went on television and told Ellen Degeneres that there would be an

. Mere hours later, beloved Hollywood icon Robert Downey Jr. went on television and told David Letterman that there would not be an

–an apparent paradox which could easily be explained by the presence of Skrulls, a race of shapechanging aliens who could be the bad guys in

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And as of this minute, Robert Downey Jr. has clearly stated that he will not star in another

movie–although he will be in other Marvel Studios movies, presumably playing Iron Man, unless Marvel Studios merges universes with

and Downey reprises his fan-favorite role as crusading journalist Steve Lopez, which is currently something that is more possible than

Specifically, Downey told Letterman “there’s no plans for an

.” And when Letterman asked him, point-blank, if he was making a fourth

, Downey responded definitively: “Just between us, no. But I’m gonna do other stuff with Marvel. I’m still gonna be involved with Marvel.”

Reading between the lines, it seems clear that Marvel Studios would like to keep Downey involved in the franchise and Downey would like to keep playing Tony Stark. It also seems clear that Marvel Studios is in the happy position of pivoting toward its other lucrative franchises (like the ascendant

movie into theaters–probably a good thing, given the declining returns on Sony’s biannual

release strategy. Also, Downey is expensive–the studio could feel more comfortable paying him marginally less kajillions of dollars to stand in the

made all the money in 2013; that this could just be part of a playful flirt-gotiation between Downey and Marvel; and that Marvel won’t officially say anything about

until Downey walks onstage for a surprise announcement at Comic-Con 20XX.

Also, Downey says he’s “still gonna be involved with Marvel,” which doesn’t not mean he’s co-starring with Jeremy Renner in the long-anticipated superteam film

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