Even as Phase 2 gets under way with Iron Man 3 and sequels to Thor and Captain America, Marvel is working on Phase 3. Ant-Man, a project to be directed Edgar Wright, has a release date of Nov. 6, 2015. Beyond that, the company is tight-lipped about its plans. Marvel has a writing program it uses as a concept generator and has scripts for Blade and Ms. Marvel features, for example. Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Black Panther and The Runaways are other projects on the horizon. The company slowly has been reacquiring licenses to characters it lost during the 1990s, snapping up Blade, Ghost Rider, Power Man and Daredevil in the past year alone.
Still, a Phase 3 without Iron Man 4 might be a risk Marvel and Disney would rather not take. And Downey, who reinvented himself with the character after years of personal struggles, seems game for the challenge of being a 50-year-old superhero. “I don’t know,” he said April 30 on The Daily Show, adding with a wink, “I had a long contract with them, and now we’re gonna renegotiate.”