Report: Robert Downey Jr. To Appear as Tony Stark in Black Widow Film Alongside Scarlett Johansson

A new report indicates actor Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as Tony Stark in the upcoming Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson.

The report comes from Deadline during their coverage of the Saturn Awards. Downey won the best actor award at the 45th Annual Saturn Awards.

Deadline reports, “Downey will be seen in the role of Stark one more time, however, in the Marvel prequel Black Widow in May 2020.”

Black Widow is expected to be a prequel film similar to Captain Marvel meaning it takes place before the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame which saw Tony Stark and Black Widow perish while attempting to undo Thanos’ snap and bring half of all life back to the universe. (Related: Black Widow Movie Footage From San Diego Comic-Con Leaks)

The film will actually take place after Captain America: Civil War. David Harbour, who plays Red Guardian in the film, revealed earlier this year:

“They’ve known each other for a while and there’s a complex history there. This movie happens right after Captain America: Civil War, and so those events do factor in.”

Black Widow originally sided with Iron Man when it came to the Sokovia Accords and the formation of a superhero team overseen by the United Nations. However, during the fight at the airport, she would switch sides and help Captain America and Bucky Barnes escape in order to track down Helmut Zemo.

Secret Avengers

It’s likely Downey’s Iron Man could be attempting to track down Black Widow and Captain America. Character posters from Avengers: Endgame hinted that Captain America and the Avengers who sided with him had gone rogue and became the Secret Avengers.

In fact, while promoting Avengers: Infinity War, Johansson hinted at the possibility of the Secret Avengers. (Related: Scarlett Johansson Hints at Captain America and the Secret Avengers)

Johansson stated:

“When we last saw these characters in Civil War, it’s been probably two or three years that have passed. And our characters have been part of some counter-terrorism efforts. But we’re flying under the radar. And you know it’s a lot when you are on these kind of missions with no governmental support and you don’t really have the support even of just the general public. You are sort of running rogue, you know, trying to do what you know is best for the common man. But you don’t have someone to guide you or like I said support you. We are kind of fractured ourselves.”

Black Widow

Black Widow is expected to see Scarlett Johansson’s character come face to face with another Black Widow in Yelena Belova played by Florence Pugh. Not only will she go toe to toe with Belova, but Taskmaster is also supposed to play a significant role in the film.

Black Widow writer Jac Schaeffer noted the film will have a lot of close combat. (Related: Black Widow Film Writer Jac Schaeffer: “I’m Not Interested in Adhering to Comic Canon That is Discriminatory…”)

“The fighting [in Black Widow] is a lot of close contact, hand-to-hand combat. It’s very visceral. There’s a lot of aggression and power in a very human way that I find really satisfying and really exciting to watch, but it’s the polar opposite to writing for super-powered characters.”

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