D23 Expo provided many surprises and gave fans a ton of content to look forward to as this year draws to a close. Marvel Studios’ big presentation during the expo felt like a long victory lap coming off of an impressive showing. A big part of this historic year was Avengers: Endgame and the performance by Robert Downey Jr. Pins and other promotional material were all over Anaheim as the company thanked fans with the message: We Love You 3000.
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Some attendees were able to snag a poster with all of Iron Man‘s biggest moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe with that message attached. There are scenes from all of his solo outings along with things from the team-ups. Most prominently in the middle, the hero is wearing the Stark Gauntlet from Endgame, and you can see Thanos in the process of being dusted to the right.
This poster might end up making fans misty-eyed again after having some time to live with the notion that Iron Man is really done with these movies. Some people are still holding out hope that there is some sort of return coming later down the line. Marvel’s head man Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers have all said that Downey Jr. is finished with the role. All three have also commented on how Endgame’s conclusion is the story they wanted to tell for a long time now.
According to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the decision was so hard that the creative team explored all sorts of options before sticking to their guns. Earlier versions of Endgame‘s story included Tony surviving the ending, but it was decided that Iron Man living just wasn’t the best possible outcome. The writers broke down their thought processes with Canada.com.
“We weren’t there to just kill characters off,” Markus explained to Canada.com. “We were told, ‘If the story demands it, you can take people off the board. But if there’s a good story to be told and no one dies, go ahead and tell that one too.’”
“In Endgame, we were trying to finish arcs and for Iron Man/Tony Stark to give up his life and sacrifice himself for the good of the universe seemed like a really good narrative closure for the billionaire playboy who had been learning over the course of several films (to be a better person),” he concluded.
Marvel Studios is riding high right now and fans are still hanging on every little word that is released ahead of their favorite projects. We love you 3000 is a phrase that will probably endure for a while. Still, it’s a tough pill to swallow that arguably the most popular character in the entire MCU won’t be suiting up with the Avengers again.
Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What Ifโฆ? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022.
