‘Avengers: Endgame’ Editor Talks Alternate Takes Of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man Sacrifice

Avengers Endgame Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man Disney Stan Lee Marvel Chris Evans Captain America Lesean McCoy

Avengers: Endgame editor Jeff Ford discussed new details on the alternate takes of the sacrifice made by Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man.

Towards the end of Avengers: Endgame, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man united with nearly every hero in the Marvel Cinematic for a final showdown against Thanos and his army. However, upon realizing there was only one path to victory, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man ultimately chose to sacrifice himself by using the Infinity Stones to erase Thanos and his forces from existence.

Before snapping and vanquishing his foes, Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man replied to Thanos’ taunt with the classic line, “I am Iron Man.” However, Avengers: Endgame editor Jeff Ford revealed Robert Downey Jr. did multiple takes of the Iron Man sacrifice, some of which were never intended to be used and some which were sincere efforts at giving the filmmakers various options for the hero’s final moment:

“When we were putting together the end of the movie, when we shot Tony’s last moment in the first round, we shot a bunch of different options. Robert had different ideas…We give him space to do that. Joe and Anthony are great about improv. We shot a run of different performances for that last moment. Some of them were crazy. Some of them we would never have used.”

While the final exchange between Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Thanos was a fan-favorite moment in Avengers: Endgame, Ford revealed that the filmmakers preferred a version where neither character said anything to each other for a long time. However, the creative team on Avengers: Endgame felt they needed Thanos to have an arc and having the villain go out on a line regarding his perceived inevitable victory was necessary:

“In that version, Thanos didn’t say anything either. He had the gauntlet. He looked at him like, ‘I got you.’ Snapped. Looked. Couldn’t believe it. Turned to Tony. Tony raised his hand and snapped. It was beautiful. It worked really, really well. But what we found, though, was Thanos needed an arc in Endgame. That arc was his sense of inevitability. The story we’d been telling was that Thanos’ pitch in that movie is ‘no matter how many times you try and stop me, you can travel in time, you can do all these things, you’re never going to win.’ It’s a sense of destiny, of ‘I will always be the one who wins.’ They’re trying to undo destiny. They’re going against what happened. For the movie to have thematic coherence, the end of the movie needed to be Thanos saying, ‘I told you. You cannot win,’ and for Tony to say, ‘But we can’.”

Did you think the sacrifice of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man ultimately worked out with the final take used in the film? Do you think Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man will ever return or should his death be permanent? Let us know below!

Here is the official synopsis for Avengers: Endgame:

The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, “Avengers: Endgame.”

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo,  Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin.

Avengers: Endgame is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Source: Collider

Sebastian Peris

Sebastian Peris

Canadian film buff, political junkie, comic book geek, and board game enthusiast.