Iron Man 3 was the final film in Robert Downey Jr.’s deal with Marvel, meaning that if they wanted him in The Avengers 2, they’d need to get him agree to sign up. Many thought that might be difficult, as Marvel is notoriously wary of paying stars big bucks, except for RDJ, who got in early with a deal that netted him over $50 million for The Avengers.
The presumption was that Marvel would try to pay him less, but the actor would hold out for more.
However the two sides have now come to terms, and it’s been announced that Robert Downey Jr. will indeed return as Tony Stark/Iron Man in both The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3. The agreement only covers those movies, meaning that at the moment there won’t be any more stand-alone Iron Man films.
RDJ has suggested that he wants to “retire” as Tony Stark/Iron Man, but he hasn’t said when that might happen. It may well be that these two films will play out the end of the actor playing Iron Man.
Some are now wondering whether this will spur the other Avengers actors to try and get better deals. Marvel is well known for signing actors to long, multi-film deals which pay far less than most other such Hollywood contracts. So far they’ve got away with it due how keen people have been to be part of the Marvel universe, as well as the studio’s willingness to replace actors who want more cash (even Chris Evans was threatened with being canned when he tried to renegotiate). With the massive success of The Avengers and RDJ likely being paid huge bucks to return, the others may now try to get a bigger slice of the pie.
The Avengers 2 comes to theaters May 1st, 2015 with Joss Whedon directing.
There’s an Iron Man 2 reunion in the offing, as the other day Jon Faveau added Robert Downey Jr. to his indie comedy, Chef, and now he’s brought Scarlett Johansson onboard too, according to 
Jon Favreau may have decided not to direct Iron Man 3, but he hasn’t fallen out with Robert Downey Jr, as they’re set to reteam for the indie comedy Chef, according to 
Many are suggesting that The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty will completely change people’s idea of Ben Stiller as a director. Indeed, after the first footage screened last month, there was very, very early Oscar buzz. Now he may take on another huge project, as Robert Downey Jr. has Stiller is in early talks to direct a live-action version of Pinocchio for Warner Bros, according to 
Over the last couple of weeks David Dobkin has been busy filling out the cast of The Judge. While Robert Downey Jr has been attached for months, he’s now been joined by Robert Duvall, Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Bob Thornton, Dax Shepard and Vera Farmiga, amongst others, with the latest news being that Leighton Meester and Jeremy Strong are in talks to join the dramedy too, according to 
Vera Farmiga is currently on US TV screens in the Psycho prequel Bates Motel, but soon she’ll be heading back to cinemas as 
The cast of The Judge is fast coming together. For a long time it was just Robert Downey Jr. attached, while they tried to get Jack Nicholson to star alongside him. However with Jack passing on the film, in the last few days they’ve added Robert Duvall, Vincent D’Onofrio and now 
Last November is was reported that Robert Downey Jr. was trying to convince Jack Nicholson to play his father in The Judge. However with Nicholson making very few films these days, he decided to pass, and so now