Before Avengers: Endgame locked in its final form, conversations happened behind closed doors that could have rewritten a key character’s fate. One such idea came from Iron Man director Jon Favreau, who pitched a version of the film where Robert Downey Jr. made it out alive.
A-list director had different plans for Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame
Filmmaker Jon Favreau originally envisioned a different fate for Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame. In his version, Tony Stark was meant to walk away from the battlefield alive.
Favreau recently revealed that he was against killing Tony Stark in the popular blockbuster. He had told Endgame directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, not to do it during development in 2019.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Favreau recalled calling the Russos to object to Iron Man’s death in Endgame, worried it would have a deeply negative impact on kids who had grown up with the character. “I talked to the Russos. I was like, ‘I don’t think people, I don’t know if people are going to, I don’t know, I think it’s going to really impact people because there were kids that grew up with that character.”
The Russo brothers had earlier talked about Jon Favreau’s strong opposition in a 2022 Vanity Fair interview.
For those unversed, Favreau launched the MCU when he cast Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in 2008. They worked together again on Iron Man 2 in 2010. He also stayed in the franchise as Happy Hogan, Tony’s assistant and driver.
However, Jon Favreau now admitted that he was “wrong.” He said the Russos “handled [it] so well,” and Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. delivered performances full of “poignancy.” He further revealed that he also choked up watching the scene of his death in the 2019 movie unfold.
Robert Downey Jr. is now returning to the Marvel universe, but not as Iron Man. This December, he steps into the role of the villainous Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.
Originally reported by Sibanee Gogoi on Mandatory.
