Avengers: Endgame Director Reveals His Favorite Character Arc in the MCU

With Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Joe and Anthony Russo have left their mark on [...]

By Jenna Anderson

With Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Joe and Anthony Russo have left their mark on nearly all of what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced thus far. With over a decade of canon under the franchise's belt, there were quite a lot of storylines that factored into Endgame, but one holds a special place in their hearts. During a recent Reddit AMA, the Russos were asked which character arc is their favorite (outside of Steve Rogers/Captain America, whose solo films they directed all but one of). As Joe Russo revealed, Tony Stark holds that honor for a pretty heartbreaking reason.

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Tony's Endgame death has certainly been a topic of conversation since the film debuted, partially thanks to the fact that his sacrifice was so the rest of the universe could live.

"We always knew we wanted him to bring it on himself as opposed to being killed by Thanos," co-writer Christopher Markus previously said of Tony's death. "Because it's really the one thing left for him to do, in a way. The five-year jump allowed him to become this fully realized human: He married Pepper, he had a child, he basically retired from public life and lived a very peaceful existence out there in the country."

"We knew he was going to die but we wanted to put it in his hands as opposed to someone else's." Markus added. "We didn't always know that the Infinity Stones were going to be what caused it, but once we worked out the mechanics of it with the nanoparticle suit that both the gauntlet and his suit were made out of, it all worked too perfectly not to do."

It's hard to deny that the way Tony's death unfolded was certainly impactful for audiences -- in part because of his "I am Iron Man" line, which was not initially planned in the film's script.

"Tony used to not say anything in that moment. And we were in the editing room going, 'He has to say something. This a character who has lived and died by quips,'" Joe Russo said in an interview in May. "And we just couldn't, we tried a million different last lines. Thanos was saying, 'I am inevitable.' And our editor Jeff Ford, who's been with us all four movies and is an amazing storyteller, said, 'Why don't we just go full circle with it and say I am Iron Man?' And we're like, 'Get the cameras! We have to shoot this tomorrow.'"

What do you think of the Russos' reaction to Tony's arc? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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 If…? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.

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