Fans were left grieving at the end of Avengers: Endgame which showcased the deaths of Nathasa Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), and the retirement of Steve Rogers/Captain America. But can you imagine if the death toll was even higher? Kevin Feige actually proposed that the film kill off Cap and the rest of the founding Avengers, Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/The Hulk! Thankfully, directors Joe and Anthony Russo rejected the idea and talked Feige out of his bloodlust.
According to Joe Russo:
“There were lots of rumors swirling about who was gonna die. Kevin did actually pitch, at one point, taking all the OGs off the board. We thought it was way too aggressive and that the audience wouldn’t be able to process it. And that, in fact, picking one or two characters to make sacrifices throughout the movie might give you moments throughout the film where the action could stop and you could have emotional catharsis and then continue with the narrative.”
Another part of the MCU, Jon Favreau, who directed Iron Man and Iron Man 2 and played Happy Hogan in multiple franchise installments, was particularly resistant to even losing Tony and lobbied for a change of plans.
Anthony recalled:
“Part of the pressure [not to kill Tony Stark] came from Jon Favreau, who called us up after he read the script … and said to us, ‘Are you really going to kill Iron Man?’”
Joe added:
“He did. Yeah. And I remember pacing on the corner of a stage on the phone with Favreau trying to talk him off a ledge. Because he’s like, ‘You can’t do this. It’s gonna devastate people, and you don’t want them, you know, walking out of the theater and into traffic.’ We did it anyways.”
And people think the MCU is directionless NOW with the losses of just Tony, Nathasha, and Steve. Can you imagine if Thor, The Hulk, and (to a lesser degree) Clint were also missing?
I guess the upside is, considering how devastated you were after Avengers: Endgame, just imagine… it could have been FAR worse!
