Avengers: Endgame’s Robert Downey Jr. Improvised Tony Stark’s Death Scene

Avengers: Endgame was the climax of the Infinity Saga, the decade-long story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. The punctuation mark on that saga was Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man dying to defeat Thanos. Tony Stark’s death scene was powerful, emotional and, according to co-star Tom Holland, made up on the spot.

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Holland recalls that there was no script prepared for Tony Stark’s death scene. He and the other Marvel Cinematic Univers stars were brought to set, given broad instructions, and made the rest of the scene up as they went along.

“It was interesting because when we shot that scene with Robert there was no real script, at all,” Holland says. “It was just Kevin Feige, the two Russo Brothers, myself, Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle. They kind of brought us to set, they kind of told us what was going to happen, or what they wanted to happen, and then we sort of just improvised if I can remember correctly.

“So it was a really, really interesting way to shoot such a kind of pivotal scene of the movie, but it was a really emotional day and I mean looking back on it now it was maybe the craziest day I’ve ever had on set, you know? But it was really amazing and turned out to be a fantastic scene.”

Holland will next appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home, an epilogue to the Infinity Saga. Peter Parker will be working through his grief over the death of his mentor. Director Jon Watts assures fans that doesn’t mean this will be the start of a dark chapter for Spider-Man.

“[This] isn’t the start of a new, dark ’emo’ phase for Peter,” Watts told Total Film magazine. “Even though he’s gone through all these dramatic and traumatic events, he’s still the same Peter Parker we know and love. It’s seeing how he deals with those things that’s interesting for me.”

During the film, Peter will discover a secret that Tony left behind the may help him through that grieving period. Spider-Man: Far From Home is on track for a $170 million holiday weekend opening.

What do you think of Marvel improvising Tony Stark’s death scene? Let us know what you think about it in the comments section!

Avengers: Endgame is now playing in theaters. Spider-Man: Far From Home opens July 2nd.