Avengers: Endgame is likely destined to go down as one of the greatest comic book movies ever made, and the surprises in the epic "Infinity Saga" finale came thick and fast. The biggest, however, was Marvel Studios' decision to kill off Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark/Iron Man when the Armoured Avenger made the ultimate sacrifice in order to put an end to Thanos' dastardly plans once and for all.
During a panel at the Sands International Film Festival of St. Andrews, co-director Joe Russo addressed the decision to have Iron Man use the power of the Infinity Gauntlet instead of Captain America.
"If you think of Captain America as a character, you go 'Okay, Captain America dying is fairly obvious,' right? [Self-sacrifice] is something he would do," Russo said. "This is a guy who offered to be a guinea pig in a science experiment in order to be able to go fight Nazis in the war. He's intrinsically a hero. There's not a lot of complexity there. It might be emotionally impactful because you like him. He's a very likeable character, but it’s not necessarily the most compelling arc."
"Tony Stark is a character who was supposed to die," Russo continued, alluding to what happened in 2008's Iron Man. "So that seemed like the more compelling arc to us, that it would be Stark who died. So that it would be a richer, more complex arc, and that’s why we chose him."
Steve Rogers travelled back in time and got his happy ending with Peggy Carter, returning to the present as an old man. Since then, the former Captain America has been missing in action, with only vague references alluding to what might have become of the hero. Some fans believe he's died off-camera, while others hope the stage is being set for Steve to show up down the line.
There have been rumours that Chris Evans has signed a deal with Marvel Studios for future MCU appearances, but we're not expecting those plans to become clear until Captain America 4 is released.
What's your take on Joe Russo's comments?
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