Even though many Marvel fans would like to see Robert Downey Jr. assume the role of Iron Man in all the films to come, that is not the case as the actor recently spoke up about the matter.

While the brilliant, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist will carry on zooming around cinema screens for several more years, Downey may simply not be the actor behind the mask. However, his ambiguous responses when asked about it signal that he must be under some Marvel contract of secrecy about the character's future.

Responding to a question from Entertainment Weekly about his part in a possible 'Iron Man 4', Downey said, "It's that thing of: Why give up the belt when it feels like you can barely get jabbed?"

Considering how profitable the 'Iron Man' film franchise is, Downey insinuated that the series will probably not stop at the third film, "It's down to Kevin [Feige] and Ike [Perlmutter] and Disney to come to us with what the proposal is, and that's on us to agree or disagree," Downey said, "When things are going great, there's a lot of agreement."

Talking to Variety, he said, "The smart money is you have to look at everybody's age. I'll put myself at the top of the list," adding, "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. When you really think about it at the end of the day, these films are entertainment largely driven by young folks."

Moving ahead, Marvel Studios seems to have four options, which include retaining Downey, casting a new Iron Man, moving on to Arno Stark, or end the franchise for good. However, the last of these options seem to be extremely unlikely, especially considering the box office numbers of 'Iron Man 3'.

However, Iron Man fans will need to be patient, as they will have to wait until after May 2015 to learn what the future has in store for Downey and Stark.