Tony Stark's death may change the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but instead of going out with a whole lot to say, Robert Downey Jr. decided to take a more minimalist approach in Avengers: Endgame.
Speaking in an interview with the press during the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con (via ComicBook.com), Endgame writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus discuss Tony Stark's death, saying that it was RDJ that decided to take a minimalist approach to Iron Man's death, saying very little aside from "I am Iron Man" and then caving in to the damage brought on by the Infinity Stones.
"This is why this is all a dance and why film is the most collaborative art form there is. A lot of the times we're in the room with [directors Joe and Anthony Russo] and [executive producer] Trinh Tran and [producer] Kevin Feige and we're all sort of trying to noodle this together," McFeely said. "But also, these actors have spent a lot of time with these characters. So Chris and I are very happy and did, to write all sorts of lovely dying words for Tony Stark. Robert is not happy to say them, right? Robert wants to — and knew this instinctively — a guy who has talked and talked and talked for many, many movies, when he doesn't talk, you are crushed."
Of course, RDJ ended up being right. There's a profound sense of loss when a viewer sees Iron Man weakly looking at the ones he loves without anything to say.
Tony's death moved so many fans, and rightly so. Sure, Iron Man might not be the First Avenger, but he was the very first Marvel hero that sparked the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tony was an easy fan-favorite with his wit and his funny one-liners. Even with Captain America (Chris Evans), many still considered Tony the leader of the Avengers or at least one of the leaders of the group.
Avengers: Endgame is releasing on Digital HD on July 20 and then on 4k Ultra HD and Blu-Ray on August 13.
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