It’s only been seven years since the Iron Man and Captain America stars bowed out of the MCU franchise, but now they’re back, leading the first Avengers movie since Endgame.

Downey Jr is playing the villainous Doctor Doom, while Evans is somehow back as a young Steve Rogers.

Rumour even has it that an Iron Man variant will face off against the big bad in 2027’s Avengers Secret Wars, making for a Downey v Downey battle.

If that wasn’t enough, the latest scoop is that the Oscar-winner will be sticking around the MCU for the long term.

According to reliable scooper MyTimeToShineHello: “Robert Downey Jr will keep playing Doctor Doom after Secret Wars and not only that but he will also return as Tony Stark.”

Just as Thanos was the big bad for Infinity War and Endgame, Doom is for Doomsday and Secret Wars. But given Downey has already made a comeback, would he really stick around once the Multiverse Saga ended and make way for the Mutant Saga with an all-new X-Men? According to the leaker, that’s the plan. Considering Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine isn’t going away anytime soon after returning from the dead post-Logan, maybe Downey will be playing Stark until he’s 90 too. And just look at Josh Brolin’s Thanos, he’s cameoed as variants a number of times post both Endgame deaths and I’ll eat my hat if he isn’t in at least one of the next two Avengers blockbusters. It’s the comic book way after all.