Marvel Movies: RDJ Talks Iron Man's Future & "Ultron"

Even as Marvel continues to further develop plans for its Cinematic Universe to continue beyond phase three--within the next year or so as contracts start to expire--they will either have to  be renegotiated with the core actors or the roles recast.

We already know that actor Chris Evans is done acting once his contract is fulfilled playing the star spangled superhero Captain America choosing instead to peruse directing opportunities.  

Robert Downey Jr. is contracted to play Iron Man in Joss Whedon's "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Avengers 3" He is also the oldest hero of the bunch at 48.

Talking with Variety he knows that his time in the metal suit is limited:

"The smart money is you have to look at everybody's age. I'll put myself at the top of the list. Sooner or later, they've got to start over and get somebody young. I'm not there with them yet. It really is the closest thing to being a beloved contract player with a big old-timey studio that there is right now."

That said the actor is psyched to shoot "Ultron":

"This one is a very ambitious sequel. If you read it, it's dense, it's smart. Joss  is a really smart guy. My 2-year-old is crazy about Hawkeye, and I think Jeremy [Renner] has a lot to do with the plot. There's always so many plates to spin to get these things half-right, and I'm really excited about this one."

RDJ joins the already filming sequel soon to meet a release date of May 1, 2015--but his stand in is already hard at work on the set.