Avengers: Endgame Directors Wanted Fans to Think They Were Killing Iron Man Early

Leading up to the release of Avengers: Endgame back in April, there were countless theories floating around online about what sort of franchise-altering events would actually take place in the movie. One of the most popular theories surrounded the shots of Tony Stark and Nebula while they were stranded in space, suggesting that the film might actually do the unthinkable and kill off Iron Man in first act, delivering a true shock to the audience.

That turned out to not be the case, but it was the intention of the directors to make fans feel as though it could happen. Avengers: Endgame was released on Digital HD Tuesday morning, and it includes a feature commentary track from directors Joe and Anthony Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. In the opening scenes of the film, the group talks about Tony’s stuggles in space.

“You’ll notice I bang on about how scenes have to do more than one thing,” says McFeely. “This is also going to establish the device by which Tony is going to deliver his own eulogy so it doesn’t come out of nowhere. It starts the movie, and it ends the movie.”

When talking about the helmet and Tony’s opening scene, Joe Russo goes on to explain that they intended for audiences to think Iron Man might actually die in that first scene. A lot of weight was removed digitally to make it look as though he was close to his actual death.

“And here’s Robert,” says Russo. “Our VFX Team did an exceptional job of taking some weight off of him and making him look like he is on death’s door. And the intent here was to make you believe, if momentarily, that we may actually kill Tony Stark at the start of the film. We wanted to…you’ll notice that we draw out the moment where he lays down on the ground and seems to let go as a way to create a sense of tension before introducing Captain Marvel as the savior.”

There was a shocking death early in the movie, but it wasn’t Iron Man’s. Endgame pulled the rug out from under everyone by killing Thanos just 15 minutes into the film, only to have him return via time travel later on. Iron Man met his end at the film’s conclusion, which turned out to be one of the most emotional sequences in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Avengers: Endgame is now available on Digital HD.