There are numerous rumors going around about the imminent exit of Tony Stark from the MCU after Avengers 4, and there might not be much chance of the character getting replaced. Still, if that were to happen, here are ten characters that can be ideal Iron-Man replacements:
1. Riri Williams
Riri Williams was chosen by Tony Stark to take over as Iron-Man mantle from him. The teenager is a genius who managed to reverse-engineer Tony Stark’s suit and went on to create an armor of her own using materials that she found around the campus. She is probably the most identical replacement for Tony Stark in the new phase.
2. Pepper Potts
The comic books show Pepper Potts as the wife of Happy Hogan, who was employed by Tony. After Ezekiel Stane attacked her and Iron-Man, Pepper had a shrapnel pierced close to her heart; Stark built a suit for her: The Mark 1616. Iron-Man 3 showed Pepper as a hero, and she is capable of replacing Tony if the opportunity presents itself.
3. James Rhodes
James Rhodes is a close friend of Tony Stark, and he has been seen as War Machine in the Iron-Man films. Despite not having the technical brilliance of Tony, he is a military man by instinct and has tactics to take on his enemies. We have seen him fight Mandarin, Firebrand, Radioactive Man, Thunderball, Zodiac, Vibro, Krang while wearing the Iron-Man suit in the comic books and Hawkeye had also invited him to West Coast Avengers under the assumption that Rhodes was Tony.
4. Happy Hogan
Before becoming Tony Stark’s bodyguard, Happy Hogan used to be a boxer in New York. Happy proved to be a selfless man who guarded Tony on several occasions especially when he was deep in addiction. Hogan put on the Iron-man suit in Tony’s absence. Hogan teamed up with Iron Legion as Iron-Man in the battle against Mandarin.
5. The Iron Legion
Iron Legion comprises of Happy Hogan, Eddie March, Michael O’Brien, Bethany Cabe, and Carl Walker. This brief duration team beat Ultimo when The Avengers failed.
6. Mary Jane Watson
This might be surprising, but, Mary Jane Watson is not only a tool that villains use to access Spider-Man. Mary Jane is beyond those things and is employed with Stark Industries and can access the Iron-Man suits and has even worn the Iron-Spider suit. This makes her worthy of playing Iron-Man on the cinematic screen.
7. Natasha Stark
Natasha Stark is a female version of Tony Stark, or we can say a parallel universe version of Tony Stark. The only thing that stops her from becoming future Tony Stark is that Natasha is in love with Captain America and that would rule out the Civil War.
8. Arno Stark
This might shock all the Tony Stark fans out there, and in fact, even Tony won’t find it easy to believe that he was adopted and Arno Stark is the actual biological son of the Stark family. He had health issues, and Arno required medical assistance which is why he lives secretly in a hospital.
9. Iron Suit
Tony Stark is capable of building numerous suits and robots, and he can protect the world, but he can hand over the control to them and leave once they prove to be the good guys. However, if things go the way it happened with Ultron, then it could be a big menace. However, if things work according to the plan, the MCU might not face a problem in replacing Tony.
10. Squirrel Girl
Squirrel Girl has evolved as a popular Marvel Comics character, and she has previously worn the Iron-suit, so she is another candidate to replace Tony Stark in the MCU.
