Do you remember how sometimes Batman will say that he's not a part of the Justice League, even though technically he is one of its founders and arguably the one who funds the entire operation? Well, it's possible that this might be the case with the Tony Stark of Earth-838, which is the alternate universe featured in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where the Earth is under the protection of the Illuminati - not the Avengers.

Speculation about where Earth-838's Tony Stark was in the Doctor Strange sequel aside, there are rumors suggesting that he's out for blood after what happened to his universe's team of superheroes.

The Cosmic Circus claims that a previously unseen Iron Man from Earth-838 will appear in the MCU and Robert Downey Jr. could return to play the said variant. This would be in line with the earlier rumors that RDJ will reprise his iconic role in Avengers: Secret Wars, which premieres on May 1, 2026.

The same report claims that Deadpool 3, which might also bring back Patrick Stewart as Professor X, will lead directly into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Apparently, Marvel Studios will position Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool as an important figure in Phase 6 of the MCU. At this point, we know very little about the fifth Avengers film that will hit theaters on May 2, 2025.

Earlier reports are claiming that Avengers 5 will prominently feature Earth-616 while variants from other universes will take over for most of Avengers 6 with The Beyonder possibly being rewritten as a different Kang variant.

Also, since we're on the topic of Kang, Jonathan Majors, who's played at least two variants of the time-traveling supergenius in the MCU, revealed to Lifehacker that he'd love to square off against RDJ's Iron Man in a future Avengers movie.

With that said, we're definitely curious to see which of these rumors will pan out and which ones won't. Most likely, these are just ideas that Marvel Studios is throwing around as production on either Avengers 5 or 6 has started yet.

Keep in mind that the plans for movies can change drastically depending on how things go. So, while these ideas might be "true" for now, Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel Studios trust head might think of something better going forward. But, if RDJ doesn't return to play as an "evil" Iron Man, we're hoping he'll consider Vin Diesel's offer to join the Fast and Furious universe instead.

For now, fans can look forward to watching Kang make his MCU debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania next week on February 17.