Iron Man 3 actor Ty Simpkins opens up about his experience coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe via a short cameo in Avengers: Endgame. Following the massive battle against Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his minions where Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) sacrificed himself by putting the gauntlet on to permanently take down the bad guys, an emotional funeral was held in his honor. It was the single most star-studded scene in the movie where all actors were actually present on set. Led by Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Morgan (Lexi Rabe) with Tony's closest pals, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and Rhodey (Don Cheadle), almost all major players in the franchise were in attendance including a representative from almost every sub-franchise in the MCU. Toward the end of the frame, a teen was standing by himself looked familiar but fans couldn't quite place. And it turns out to be an all grown-up Harley.
Simpkins played Harley Keener in the Shane Black-directed Iron Man 3. The young boy assisted Stark during his time stranded in Tennessee including helping look for the battery drained Iron Man suit and even providing some encouraging words for the PTSD-suffering genius, billionaire as he dug into the mystery that was the Mandarin. Fans haven't seen the boy after Tony went back home and sent him some cool gadgetry for his own until he returned via the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed flick. In a new interview, the actor talks about the process of finding out that that Marvel Studios wants him back for Endgame and what it was like being on set that day the star-studded scene was shot.
Speaking with the Huffington Post, Simpkins said that he was on his way to an audition when he was informed that he could potentially reprise his MCU role through Endgame. By the time it was confirmed, he was informed of the reason why Harley is returning and like almost everyone started "tearing up and just feeling so nostalgic about everything." “Iron Man” [was] probably one of the first movies I saw in theaters. I was 6, sat in the front row and I was just looking up, and that’s all I can remember. “Iron Man” was so inspirational and just meant so much to me. That’s how I felt," he said. When asked if he was worried if people would recognize him knowing how much he's physically grown, Simpkins though briefly about it, but he was more excited over the idea that he's in an Avengers film.
After ironing out the details of his planned cameo, Simpkins said that he immediately sent Downey a text. The two kept in touch all these years with occasional messaging. "We just texted for a little bit about how much the character meant," he recalled. When he got on set to shoot the scene, Simpkins didn't get a script, which makes sense considering the main actors themselves reportedly didn't even get complete ones. But the Russos coached him properly on what to do during the sequence saying "just think about what Tony meant to you and how he impacted your character’s life and your life." So he "imagine[d] Tony was really Harley’s only father figure and that they would’ve stayed in touch over the years. I just kind of took that sentimental part of my real life and Harley’s life into the scene."
Considering how secretive Avengers: Endgame was, particularly when it came to Iron Man's death, it's surprising that Marvel Studios straight-up told Simpkins the spoiler details of his MCU return. The scene itself was dubbed "The Wedding" in call sheets and actors such as Sebastian Stan and Tom Holland separately talked about coming into the film the sequence genuinely believing that someone's going to get hitched. Some might feel like Harley was shoehorned in the movie since fans haven't seen him since Iron Man 3, but in terms of narrative, it makes sense that he's there. While he and Tony only had a fleeting relationship, it was pivotal with regard to the hero's arc especially when it came to his eventual mentorship of Peter Parker and parenting Morgan.
Source Huffington Post
