Even though we’ve been bombarded with rumors claiming otherwise since the second Avengers: Endgame faded to black, Robert Downey Jr. hasn’t shown much interest in making a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Tony Stark.
That’s completely understandable when the actor admitted he’d done all that he could as the iconic character, and having spent a decade as the franchise’s biggest star, main selling point, and the face of the entire Infinity Saga, Iron Man‘s arc was wrapped up in satisfying fashion.
Not that it wasn’t heartbreaking, though, with the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist making the ultimate sacrifice play to safeguard the future of the entire universe. His final line being “I am Iron Man” brought things full circle to the end of his first solo movie, too, and it was a perfect way for him to bow out of the series.
In an interview with the HypochondriActor podcast, RDJ revealed several alternate ideas that he was toying with, before he decided that bringing things full circle was the best option.
“I had so many so many alt lines that I wanted to put forward…they were all super smart-ass lines like I was trying, you know, say stuff like ‘you are so f*cked’ or whatever… I was going to say ‘oh snap!’… It was too smartass and the whole arc of the character, and it was I think maybe one of our great editor’s idea or maybe one of the writers who say that we need to go back to the first film and have him his dying words to be the words of his origin. We love a bookend.”
Even though he’s been killed off in canon, Iron Man’s shadow still looms large over the MCU, ensuring that Stark’s legacy will continue to live on for a long time to come.