If Iron Man director Jon Favreau had his way, Tony Stark would still be breathing.
In the most recent episode of Vanity Fair’s “Notes on a Scene” series, Joe and Anthony Russo broke down several of the most memorable scenes from the movies that they have directed. Unsurprisingly, one of the scenes was Iron Man’s death in Avengers: Endgame. The brothers say that Favreau wasn’t on board when he first heard about the decision.
Iron Man director tried to save Tony Stark
During their breakdown of the Endgame scene, the Russo brothers talked about how much pressure they felt delivering a satisfying finale.
“Part of the pressure came from Jon Favreau, who called us up after he read the script, and said to us, ‘Are you guys really going to kill Iron Man?'” Anthony recounted.
“He did,” Joe confirmed.
“I remember pacing on the corner of a stage on the phone with Favreau trying to talk him off a ledge. He’s like, ‘You can’t do this, it’s going to devastate people, and you don’t want them walking out of the theater and into traffic.’ We did it anyways.”
Favreau’s long history with the MCU
Favreau’s reaction was certainly understandable, given that he helped establish the MCU as well as Robert Downey Jr’s character. Not only did he direct Iron Man and Iron Man 2, but he has also appeared in several MCU movies and shows as Happy Hogan. He undoubtedly has an emotional attachment to the character just like the fans do.
That said, as the Russos explain, “he hadn’t stepped through the process in the way that we had.” They admit that they would have felt the same way if someone else had dropped that bombshell on them. But they believed that they had “earned the arc” that would end with Iron Man’s death as he sacrificed himself to save the universe from Thanos.
The Russo brothers have certainly left their mark on the MCU, but it’s unclear if or when they will return. We already know that they won’t direct either Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Avengers: Secret Wars. In fact, we learned earlier this week that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton will helm the first of the two Avengers movies coming in 2025.
The entire video is worth a watch if you’re a fan of the Russo brothers’ work:
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