Robert Downey Jr. Returns as Iron Man for New Disneyland Avengers Attraction Seven Years After Tony Stark’s ‘Endgame’ Death

Disney confirmed during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event that the Oscar-winning actor will reprise his famous role as Tony Stark/Iron Man in Avengers: Infinity Defense, a major new attraction being developed for Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.

Scheduled to open in 2028, the attraction will reunite Downey with several familiar Marvel stars, including Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Anthony Mackie as Captain America and Chris Hemsworth as Thor.

The actors have already filmed new material specifically for the attraction, giving Marvel fans an opportunity to see several Avengers together again in an entirely new storyline years after Avengers: Endgame dramatically changed the MCU.

Iron Man Returns After Tony Stark’s Death

Downey’s return carries particular significance because Tony Stark’s story appeared to reach a definitive conclusion in 2019.

In Avengers: Endgame, Iron Man sacrificed himself during the climactic battle against Thanos, using the Infinity Stones to eliminate the villain and his forces.

The act saved the universe but killed Stark, ending a character arc that had begun more than a decade earlier with 2008’s Iron Man.

That movie helped launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe and established Downey as one of the franchise’s defining stars.

Over the following years, he appeared in numerous Marvel films, including Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War and finally Avengers: Endgame.

Because of Stark’s emotional death, Marvel had largely avoided bringing the character back into the central MCU storyline.

The new Disneyland project, however, provides a different opportunity.

Rather than reversing Tony Stark’s death in the movies, Disney is using the character inside the expanded storytelling environment of Avengers Campus, where different Marvel heroes and adventures can exist beyond the strict continuity of the films.

Downey Filmed New Iron Man Scenes

During the D23 presentation, Disney showed footage featuring Downey in character as Stark.

In the unfinished material, Iron Man directly welcomes visitors to Avengers Campus and explains the purpose behind the facility.

“Welcome to Avengers Campus,” Downey says in the footage. “We built this place to recruit, inspire the next generation” of heroes.

He then tells guests that they have an important role in that mission.

“You’re a big part of that mission,” Stark continues.

The comments establish visitors themselves as participants in the story rather than simply spectators.

The attraction will apparently place guests in the middle of a major conflict involving multiple Marvel heroes and one of the franchise’s most recognizable villains.

That villain is Thanos.

At another point in the footage shown at D23, Downey warns, “They are not ready for Thanos.”

Additional images showed Downey and the other returning Marvel actors involved in action sequences connected to the attraction.

Avengers Reunite Against Thanos

The premise of Avengers: Infinity Defense will reportedly unite heroes from across Marvel’s cinematic universe against a new threat involving Thanos.

The attraction expands the Avengers Campus concept by creating a much larger-scale adventure than the experiences currently available in the area.

Downey will not be the only major Marvel actor appearing.

Jeremy Renner has filmed new scenes as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, while Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor.

Anthony Mackie will also appear as Sam Wilson/Captain America, reflecting his current identity within Marvel’s superhero universe.

Together, the actors will help create what Disney is positioning as an immersive Avengers storyline built specifically for theme-park guests.

The project therefore represents a rare reunion between several performers who played major roles throughout the Infinity Saga.

While their characters have continued in different directions since Endgame, Avengers: Infinity Defense allows Disney to assemble them again without necessarily altering the continuity established by the films.

A Second Tony Stark Attraction Is Coming

Downey’s return to Disneyland will not be limited to Avengers: Infinity Defense.

Disney also announced another attraction called Stark Flight Lab, which will open alongside Infinity Defense.

As its name suggests, the attraction is centered directly around Tony Stark and Stark technology.

The ride will place guests inside an experimental flight environment in which they are positioned on a vehicle attached to a large mechanical arm.

The system will move along a track while the arm itself performs additional movements.

Riders can expect the mechanism to dip, dive and shift from side to side, creating the sensation of undergoing a high-intensity Stark Industries flight test.

The attraction further strengthens Iron Man’s presence within Avengers Campus and makes Tony Stark one of the central figures in Disney’s upcoming expansion.

For fans who believed Downey’s 2019 appearance represented the final time they would ever see him portray Stark, the two new projects offer an unexpected return to the character.

Downey Is Also Returning to Marvel — But as Doctor Doom

The Disneyland announcement comes during an especially unusual period in Downey’s relationship with Marvel.

Although he is returning as Iron Man for the Disney attractions, his next major cinematic Marvel role is entirely different.

Downey is also returning to the MCU as Victor von Doom, better known as Doctor Doom, one of the most famous villains in Marvel Comics.

The casting surprised audiences when it was originally announced because Downey remains so closely associated with Tony Stark.

Rather than simply resurrecting Iron Man for another Marvel movie, the studio chose to bring the actor back as a completely different character.

Doctor Doom is traditionally associated with the Fantastic Four and is one of Marvel’s most powerful and influential antagonists.

Downey’s involvement as Doom therefore represents a major new chapter in his Marvel career rather than a straightforward continuation of Tony Stark’s story.

That distinction makes his Disneyland appearances particularly interesting.

Inside the theme parks, audiences will once again encounter Downey as the heroic, charismatic Tony Stark.

In the films, however, they will see the same actor take on a major villainous identity.

Iron Man Remains One of Marvel’s Defining Characters

Few actors have been as closely connected to a modern superhero franchise as Robert Downey Jr. has been to Iron Man.

When the original Iron Man premiered in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe did not yet exist in the form audiences know today.

The film’s success helped establish the interconnected storytelling model that eventually produced one of the biggest entertainment franchises in movie history.

Tony Stark subsequently became one of the central characters of the MCU’s first major era.

His relationships with Captain America, Thor, Bruce Banner, Spider-Man and the other Avengers formed an essential part of the franchise.

By the time Endgame was released in 2019, Stark’s death had become one of Marvel’s most emotional moments.

His final confrontation with Thanos provided a conclusion not only to the film but also to a story that had developed across more than a decade.

That history explains why Downey’s return as Iron Man — even for a theme-park attraction — is likely to generate substantial attention among Marvel fans.

Avengers Campus Expands in 2028

Both Avengers: Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab are expected to debut at Disney California Adventure in 2028.

The attractions will significantly expand Avengers Campus and bring additional characters, environments and stories into the Marvel-themed area.

For Downey, the projects create an unusual bridge between his Marvel past and future.

He can return to the character who helped define his career while simultaneously beginning another chapter as Doctor Doom elsewhere in the Marvel universe.

Most importantly, Tony Stark’s appearance in the Disneyland attractions does not necessarily mean Marvel is undoing his death in Avengers: Endgame.

Instead, Disney is using the creative flexibility of its theme parks to give audiences another opportunity to experience Iron Man without changing the emotional conclusion of the character’s cinematic story.

Seven years after Tony Stark told the world goodbye, Robert Downey Jr. is putting the Iron Man persona back on once again.

This time, however, the Avengers will not be assembling solely on a movie screen.

Beginning in 2028, guests at Disneyland Resort will become part of Stark’s newest mission themselves.