New MCU Update Gives 'Iron Man' Fans a LOT to Look Forward To

There are few characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with as large — or as passionate — of a fan base as Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man.

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RDJ’s fan-favorite character launched the blockbuster super hero universe with Iron Man (2008) and went on to appear in 11 total MCU films — Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

As more than a decade passed, Stark turned from a billionaire playboy into the husband of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), the trusted confidante of Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), the mentor of Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), the occasional adversary of Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), and the fearless leader of his father’s legacy, Stark Industries.

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Stark also bravely sacrificed himself to save the world from Thanos (Josh Brolin) as Marvel’s Infinity Saga reached it’s tragic conclusion in Endgame.

Although RDJ has confirmed that he’s done with the MCU — even going so far as to unfollow all of his Avengers costars on social media (likely a publicity stunt, but still…) — and Iron Man was already recast with a new voice actor in Marvel’s Disney+ Original animated series What If…? (2021), fans still can’t get enough of the super hero actor.

Related: Don Cheadle’s War Machine Returning In ANOTHER Marvel Series

And, although the Sherlock Holmes star himself won’t be returning to the MCU, Iron Man spinoff series, Armor Wars, has a new update. The show is seemingly set to begin principal photography this Fall.

The information comes via Marvel Studios producer Jenna Berger’s bio for an upcoming event at the University of Pennsylvania (U PENN), which reads:

Jenna Berger is an executive at Marvel Studios on the production and development team where she’s been for the last three years. She most recently produced the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel and is now in development on a new series starring Don Cheadle, which will film in Atlanta this Fall. Prior to working at Marvel, Jenna was a Creative Executive at The Mark Gordon Company, a film and TV production company, which was later acquired by Entertainment One, an independent studio. There, she worked on a number of films including Molly’s Game, Murder on the Orient Express, and Official Secrets. She graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2013 and was a double major in English and Cinema & Media Studies.

Related: Marvel Writer Spits in the Face of Fans, Does Not Care if MCU Erases Character’s Heritage

It is well known that Cheadle’s Rhodey/War Machine will play a key role in Armor Wars. The actor previously shared:

“The most exciting things are still to come and those things were hinted at in Endgame. Where this character might go? What might be in the offing for him? It’s very early in the process for Armor Wars. We just hired my boy Yassir [Yassir Lester, head writer], which I am very excited about. He wrote on Black Monday. Became friends with him, really close with him. Great guy, a lot of great ideas. Honestly, we’re still trying to crack the spine of what it’s going to be and chop it up. I couldn’t give you the answers if you wanted them, because we’re in the ‘clay mode’ right now.”

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Armor Wars isn’t the only upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe project that Iron Man fans have to look forward to. Another spinoff, Ironheart, began filming B-roll in Chicago last month.

The show, which is set to star Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams will also feature Harper Anthony, Anthony Ramos, and Lyric Ross.

Related: Kevin Feige Reveals the Next Decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The villains in the series are expected to hearken back to Stark’s former business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Per a popular online rumor, “the villains of #Ironheart were basically a bunch of tech bros., Stane [Obadiah’s son] being one which has been rumored/reported already.”

At this time, neither Ironheart nor Armor Wars have official release dates.

Are you excited about the fact that Iron Man fans have two MCU spinoffs to look forward to?

You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and the seven series in Marvel’s Phase Four so far — Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’s WandaVision, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Marvel’s What If…?, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight, and Iman Vellani’s Ms. Marvel— on Disney+ anytime.