Jon Favreau admits he was "wrong" in his resistance to killing off Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The 59-year-old filmmaker launched the franchise with 2008's Iron Man and has been involved with multiple movies since then, and he has recalled how he called Anthony and Joe Russo to object to their ideas for 2019's Avengers: Endgame, but he ultimately thinks the siblings did a great job with the film.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Jon said: “I talked to the Russos, I said ‘I don’t know if people are gonna like … I don’t know, it’s really going to impact people because they were kids that grew up with that character.
“But I have to tell you, it was handled so well by them. And Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Robert did such a wonderful job acting, and I think it added a poignancy to it. I think they did a wonderful job. I was wrong.”
Jon admitted he got emotional when he watched Avengers: Endgame.
He said: “I was choked up. Even though it’s a movie, those people, those characters, have been part of my life for so long.”
While Iron Man/ Tony Stark may have been killed off, Downey is returning for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as the villain Doctor Doom, and Jon is "excited to see" him in action.
Jon is currently promoting his upcoming film Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu but tried to stay diplomatic when asked whether MCU or Star Wards fans are "scarier".
The filmmaker insisted both camps are "equally invested" in their favourite franchises, but noted Star Wars fans have a longer attachment because the first movie came out in 1977.
Meanwhile, Jon - who has worked on The Mandalorian TV show since 2019 - recently admitted Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu could be his final project with the franchise.
During an interview with Polygon, he said: “I've been working on Star Wars now for seven years, and to be able to step up to doing it as a film feels like a culmination of what I'm working on.”
Jon also reflected on the challenges of bringing The Mandalorian to the big screen.
He said: “With Star Wars, we have to execute at that tech level. So the challenge becomes, ‘Okay, we presented a cinematic experience on the small screen. We have to up our game now to the movie theater.’
“That means taller aspect ratios for IMAX, building sets that take full advantage of that, making the visual effects of the quality and caliber that we have to notch everything up.”
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu - which hits cinemas on May 22 - follows Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu as they are hired by the fledgling New Republic to protect it from the fractured Galactic Empire's warlords.
The film also stars Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward, Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt, and Steve Blum as Zeb Orrelios.
