The death of Tony Stark, which has become one of the most iconic moments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was tried to be prevented by the director of the first Iron Man movie.
Tony Stark’s death upset the director of the first Iron Man movie as much as Marvel fans. So much so that the director of the movie, Jon Favreu, tried to dissuade the Russo brothers from their decision by calling the Russo brothers after reading the script of Endgame. The Russo brothers politely turned down Jon Favreu, who started the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as we know it today.
Tony Stark’s death upset Jon Favreu
After the announcement of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Russo brothers, who were certain that they would not direct the Avengers films, explained how Favreu “begged” them in an interview with Vanity Fair:
“There was great pressure from Jon Favreu not to kill Tony Stark. After reading the script, he called us and asked, “Are you really going to kill Iron Man?”
“That’s exactly what he asked. And I remember Anthony pacing across the stage trying to explain it to Favreu on the phone.”
The first Iron Man movie, directed by Jon Favreu and released in 2008, was the opening movie of the MCU. Favreu has also acted in other films as Tony’s head of security and friend, it seems that he hasn’t stopped trying to protect Tony until the very last moment. The death of Iron Man was arguably one of the most epic moments in the MCU and a terrific closure for Tony Stark’s story. But Jon Favreu didn’t think so.
Joe Russo continued to describe the event as follows:
“Because Favreu strongly believed that we should not have given up on this decision. He said it would ruin the audience, they would leave the movie theater. We read what we knew anyway.”
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely also supported the Russo brothers’ decision, and they decided that Iron Man’s death in this way would be the perfect ending for Tony Stark. So McFeely.
“Everyone knew Tony Stark was going to die like this,” he said.