What if Iron Man didn’t die at the end of Avengers: Endgame?

Despite knowing the fatal consequence, the billionaire, philanthropist, playboy, and tech-genius sacrificed his life with a snap to safeguard the future of the entire universe. The power of Infinity stones was too much to handle for him. The movie tragically ends with the funeral of this martyr. What if our beloved superhero Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man would have been alive at the end of Avengers: Endgame? This thought would have crossed the mind of almost every MCU fan after watching the last Avengers movie. Let us try to explore this possibility alongside getting some insight into why the Marvel chose such a tragic fate for Tony Stark.

Avengers: Endgame was supposed to be the last movie for many MCU characters, including Iron Man and Captain America. The screenwriters Christopher Markus and Steven McFeely were given the herculean task of giving a proper closure to these heroes. The duo has previously been the brains behind all the three Captain America films and Thor: The Dark World. Marvel had given them the freedom to take the characters off if the story demanded so. Stark’s death was a very critical event for everybody involved in the MCU, especially for the fans.

How would Endgame have finished off if Stark was to stay alive? Would it still have been regarded as the best one among all MCU films? In a telephonic interview with Toronto Sun, the screenwriters answer these questions. “We weren’t there to just kill characters off,” said Markus “We were told, ‘If the story demands it, you can take people off the board. But if there’s a good story to be told and no one dies, go ahead and tell that one too.’ ”

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

They gave a justified and a convincing explanation for their decision for Iron Man: “In Endgame, we were trying to finish arcs and for Iron Man/Tony Stark to give up his life and sacrifice himself for the good of the universe seemed like a really good narrative closure for the billionaire playboy who had been learning over the course of several films (to be a better person).”

Still, many fans believe they could never get enough of Robert Downey Jr.’s charisma as Tony Stark on the screen. He’ll continue to live their hearts forever.