Iron Man had a heroic send-off in Avengers: Endgame, but it turns out the Russo Brothers almost killed him off earlier.
In conversation with CBR.com, when asked about a rumor that Iron Man almost died in Avengers: Infinity War, Joe Russo revealed that Tony Stark biting the dust was a possibility, even though Robert Downey Jr. was seemingly rooting for his character to live.
"This happens a lot in these rooms, right? We try to... I'm feeling the heat now," Joe Russo said. "We try to investigate. We try to investigate all angles, right? Everything's up for grabs. We always say, 'Best idea wins.' And a lot of the times you gotta stretch…" Downey Jr. then broke in with: "It's mine" and "mine is just, 'Don't kill me.'"
Russo then added: "We have to stretch the taffy a little bit, pull the taffy a little bit, stretch it, see where it goes. There was a moment where we thought, 'They're not expecting it. This could be the best place to possibly do it.' But then we'd have to figure out how he could potentially still participate in the next movie. And then we went, 'Fuck it, let's just do it in the next movie.'"
They did indeed kill off Tony Stark in Endgame, in a moment that might be one of the MCU's most emotional ever.
Next up for Marvel is Avengers: Doomsday, which sees Downey Jr. return – only, this time, he's the bad guy. Downey Jr. will play Doctor Doom in the Marvel Phase 6 movie, one of the best Marvel villains ever.
Doomsday arrives this December 18. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else the MCU has in store.
