Robert Downey Jr. Wins Male Movie Star of 2019 at People’s Choice Awards, Thanks Stan Lee in Acceptance Speech

Tony Stark lives in the hearts and minds of countless fans all across the world. Now, Robert Downey Jr. is adding yet another award to his trophy case after nabbing the People’s Choice Award for Male Movie Star of 2019. It would make sense after the gargantuan stakes of Avengers: Endgame that saw the hero sacrifice himself for the betterment of humanity. This has been a bit of a summer victory lap for the star after the fan outpouring of love began after the huge film hit theaters. Fans just continue to struggle with the fact that Tony Stark is no more. But, that seems to be the real case heading forward in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the entire studio’s output heads into unknown waters without two of their biggest stars, everyone is wondering what comes next. Who knows what that entails for RDJ, but he sounds very thankful for the opportunity to entertain millions.

“Well look, I just got to come up here and open the show so I’ll just say thank you Disney, thank you Marvel, thank you Russo brothers,” he said. “And most of all, to the late, great Stan Lee, this is for you, buddy.”

Earlier in the evening he also joked that he had made a suggestion for the scene where Tony Stark dealt the final blow to Thanos. It wasn’t always going to be “I am Iron Man,” as it turns out. Downey joked that his first choice for that climactic moment was “Oh snap!” The words that ended up being a cornerstone of the film was originally thought up by Endgame editor Jeffrey Ford. According to director Joe Russo, the editor produced the line on the cutting room floor and the production scrambled to get everything ready for that exact moment. This was all very late in the game, but the moment was too good to pass up.

“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 explained during a Q&A earlier this year. “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.’”