'Avengers: Endgame' Directors on Iron Man's Arc

When the Russo Brothers took over Iron Man's story in Captain America: Civil War, they seemed to be injecting an arc centered around Tony Stark's family. The driving factor in the feud between Tony and Steve Rogers boiled down to Tony's parents then Infinity War teased Tony wanting to have a family and getting married. Avengers: Endgame looks to be showing his desperate need to return to Pepper Potts.

While Anthony Russo and Joe Russo are careful not to reveal any spoilers for the upcoming film, they did open up about their approach regarding the Iron Man character and what we can expect from his next outing.

"All heroes are made complicated by the circumstances in their life, right?" Joe Russo said. "Captain America and Winter Solder in Civil War... the essential nature of his conflict is he was created by his country, and what happens when he stops trusting his country? He's gone from a patriot to an insurgent. That's as full of an arc as you could possibly give a character."

They took this strategy and applied it to Tony Stark. "Tony is essentially an egoist, and what is the essential conflict for an egoist?" Joe Russo went on. "Is it about what the egoist wants, or is it about subjugating the ego to what others may want from them? And family is really the most essential way to get to that conflict with Tony."

In Avengers: Endgame, it looks like Captain America and Iron Man will be at the forefront of major arcs, continuing their journeys of growth and heroism. "We're always looking for the most epic journey we can take the characters on," Anthony Russo adds. "Often that means, whether it's Cap or Tony, taking them as far away from where they started as possible."

With a three hour run time, the team doesn't seem to be having any problem fitting in each desired beat of their story. "That was very much worked out on the script level with Markus and McFeely," Anthony Russo said. "We spent a long time with them exploring all the possibilities and honing down on what the essential storytelling was. [Fitting everything into the runtime is] such a complex question. You can't really be dealing with that once you get to production. That's definitely a script issue."

What are you hoping to see from Tony Stark and his Iron Man hero in Avengers: Endgame? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter, @BrandonDavisBD.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.