Iron Man survived the galaxy-changing finger snap of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but how long will he really last? Both Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) will have completed their Disney contracts after the fourth Avengers film, and fans speculate that one of them will die in the last movie. My bets are on both men getting killed off. Captain's whole "We don't trade lives" speech that was reiterated by Vision in Infinity War seems to be a heavy foreshadowing that he will have to trade his life to save others later down the road. That fact that Thanos knew Iron Man by name, and also because Tony Stark started the whole MCU, makes me feel like Marvel will kill him off as well. Nothing makes a writer more happy than a story that comes full circle, and the current MCU beginning and ending with Stark would do just that.
Recently, comic book writer and artist Bob Layton sat down with the Tampa Bay Times and discussed what he thinks will happen to Iron Man in the future. Layton famously worked on Iron Man comics for years. "I am only speculating, but I will guess that (Robert Downey Jr.) is done," he stated. "He has been doing the same role for over 10 years now, and I think as with any actor sometimes, it is time to move on."
When asked if by "done" he means death, Layton answered, "That is one way of doing it, but I’d only be guessing. I know this — I wouldn’t want to recast Tony Stark. Who would want to try to top Downey? But, if Tony doesn’t come back, they can put somebody else in the armor and start a new generation of Iron Man." That sounds about right.