Avengers Endgame: RDJ Reveals Iron Man’s Alternate Final Line

Robert Downey Jr. reveals the alternate lines to Iron Man's final words in Avengers: Endgame. In 2019, Marvel Studios wrapped up the Infinity Saga via the Joe and Anthony Russo-directed flick. In order to emphasize the movie's importance in the MCU's history, it also functioned as the swan song to three of the original Avengers, including the franchise's inaugural hero, Tony Stark.

Much has been said about Downey's involvement in kicking off the MCU in 2008. Marvel Studios didn't want to cast him in the lead role of Iron Man because of his troubled past, but director Jon Favreau was adamant that he was perfect for the role. The filmmaker was ultimately right, and from there, Downey's Tony Stark became the poster boy of the franchise for the next 11 years until he capped off his arc in Avengers: Endgame. Starting off as a self-serving industrialist, at the time of his death, Tony had officially been reformed, willingly sacrificing himself to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin). But ever the snappy one, he declared "I am Iron Man" just before snapping his fingers and killing the Mad Titan and his minions — which referenced the ending of the original Iron Man film. Apparently, however, Downey had a string of alternatives for what's now an iconic phrase.

The actor opened up about this in his guest appearance on the Hypochondriactor podcast. During the episode's trivia segment, one of the questions was about Iron Man's final line in Avengers: Endgame. Downey, of course, got it right, but subsequently shared that there were other options for it that he himself came up with. Read his full story below:

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.

Other Marvel Studios creatives have talked about how this particular Avengers: Endgame moment came out to be. Initially, Tony wasn't going to say anything after getting the Infinity Stones, but that didn't sit quite well with the filmmakers when they were editing the film. That's when the idea for the character to say "I am Iron Man" came to be. So, the team had to reshoot the whole sequence, which Downey didn't want to initially do as per MCU architect Kevin Feige and co-director Anthony Russo revealed. Luckily, they were able to convince the actor to do it, otherwise, the film would've missed the opportunity to reference the original Iron Man movie, which was nostalgic for long-time fans of the franchise.

Downey is known for his penchant for improvisation. Tom Holland talked about his experience riffing off with the actor during his Spider-Man audition and how it kept him on his toes throughout the whole screen test. But, as great as Downey was in delivering great unscripted moments in the MCU, it's for the best that they stuck with the "I am Iron Man" line in Avengers: Endgame. Anything else would've felt wrong especially considering that phrase's history in the franchise.

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Source: Hypochondriactor