Infinity War: Iron Man's True Torture Is Surviving Thanos' Snap

Iron Man may have survived Thanos's snap in Avengers: Infinity War, but for Tony Stark that was probably the greatest torture he could have suffered. He'd lived six years with the knowledge that a terrible threat was coming, and he'd done his best to prepare for it. In the end, though, it just wasn't enough.

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlet Witch's telepathic powers gave Stark a haunting vision of a cosmic tableau, one in which he saw the Avengers defeated, broken by the threat he believed was coming. The climax of that vision was the moment when the dying Captain America grasped Stark's hand, and whispered, "You could have saved us" with his final breath. Now, that vision has come true (sort of): half the life in the universe was extinguished with a snap of Thanos's fingers, including people Tony cared a great deal about. There's no way a control freak like Tony Stark won't blame himself, believing he could have done more.

But was this torture intentional on Thanos's part? And what will it motivate Stark to do in next year's Avengers 4? Here, we're going to take a deep-dive into the end of Iron Man's battle with Thanos, the psychological consequences it will have upon Tony, and the likely ways it will drive him in next year's Avengers sequel.

This Page: What Tony Stark Experienced In Avengers 4
Page 2: How Survival Will Affect Tony Stark

Thanos Expected Tony Stark To Die

While the bulk of the Avengers engaged the Black Order and the army of Outriders in Wakanda, it fell to just a handful of heroes - Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy - to take on Thanos himself on Titan. By the end of the battle, Stark's friends were defeated, and he was literally the last man standing. Iron Man threw every weapon in his arsenal against the Mad Titan, using his nanotechnology to simulate the capabilities of countless earlier generations of armor. But Thanos responded with the worlds-destroying might of the Power Stone, and even Tony couldn't defend himself against that. Ironically, in the end it was Stark's own weapons that were used against him. He formed a blade on one arm but Thanos snapped it off, and stabbed him through the chest with it. The Mad Titan's strength was so great that the blade pierced Tony's body, emerging from his back. That wound alone should have been fatal.

Although Thanos prepared a finisher - one using the combined power of all four Infinity Stones he wielded at the time - that was simply overkill. Perhaps, in recognition of the battle Stark had given him, Thanos decided to honor the defeated Avenger with a quick death rather than an agonizingly slow one. Perhaps he'd just enjoyed the fight, and wanted to experience the pleasure of killing his opponent; the visceral joy Thanos takes in the deaths he causes is visible throughout the film. Whatever the truth, when Thanos stayed his hand in response to Doctor Strange's entreaty, he believed Tony Stark was as good as dead. "I hope they remember you," Thanos observed, signifying that he thought Stark would be nothing more than a memory.

Of course, Thanos had underestimated his enemy. Tony Stark had one last tool in his armor; sophisticated medical technology. Stark will have been badly injured, likely suffering severe internal bleeding, but he survived, the wounds closed with some sort of sealant.

Did Tony Think He Was About To Be Dusted?

And then came the snap, and Tony watched in horror as allies faded away before his eyes. The worst was undoubtedly the death of Peter Parker, the teenager who Stark himself had encouraged to become a hero. As we saw in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tony felt a sense of responsibility for Spider-Man. "If you died, I feel like that's on me," he once told the wall-crawler. Tony held Peter's body in his arms as the teenager crumbled to dust.

Immediately after Peter's death, there's a brief scene in which Tony stares at his hands. Some viewers have interpreted that as Stark's believing - perhaps even hoping - that he was about to dissolve to ash as well. That reading is unlikely; it's more probable that Tony's mind was reeling from the shock of what he'd just experienced, that he was staring at the dust on his fingers, unable to process the horror of it all. Perhaps a part of Tony wished he would die; wished he would fade away, as his allies and even his protege had done before his grief-stricken eyes. But there's no evidence he expected it.

Page 2 of 2: How Will This Experience Affect Tony Stark?

Tony Stark Surviving Makes His Failure Worse

There can be no doubt that Tony Stark experienced this as a very personal failure. Alone of all the Avengers, he flew through the portal over New York City and caught a glimpse of Thanos's armies. He knew they'd return, and he dedicated himself to protecting the Earth. The Avengers were the easiest way to accomplish this, but they weren't enough; Stark's fear of another alien invasion was why he created Ultron in the first place. But Ultron was corrupted and went insane, and the Avengers schismed. Ultimately, Stark was left alone, and according to the Avengers: Infinity War Prelude he created his nanotech armor precisely for the purpose of protecting the Earth when the aliens came back. It wasn't enough.

It's important to remember, as well, that Tony Stark was one of a handful of people who knew the threat of the Infinity Stones. Thor warned Iron Man and Captain America about them before he left Earth in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Again, for all his foreknowledge, Stark was found wanting.

Tony is no stranger to survivor's guilt; there are arguably hints of it in his reaction to Yinsen's death in the first Iron Man film. He'll be unable to resist looking back at the events of the past, wishing he could have done things differently. Some of the mistakes he'd made would play out in his mind; what if he'd not supported the Sokovia Accords, and the Avengers hadn't fallen apart? What if the entire team had been on Titan when Thanos arrived? What if he'd not allowed Thor to head off into space alone as a scout, but had insisted on being more proactive and joining him in his quest? Making matters worse, Tony is a futurist, his mind able to intuit patterns in history. Where many victims of survivor's guilt have to settle with fantasy, Stark will be able to deduce with a high degree of confidence which decisions - which smaller, perhaps even unnoticed failures - led to the snap.

Can This Failure Be Key To Avengers 4?

But it's possible Tony's survivor's guilt will be the key to Avengers 4. There's strong evidence that next year's Avengers sequel involves time travel; now imagine what a man like Tony Stark, in the thrall of survivor's guilt, would make of time-travel technology. Stark's incredible mind would become resolutely focused on the events of the past, attempting to intuit exactly what changes needed to made to the timeline in order to avert the Thanos' snap Where most victims of survivor's guilt simply have to learn to deal with painful reality, Stark would be able to channel his grief and guilt into a constructive activity, attempting to save half the life in the universe.

That looks to be just what's set to happen in Avengers 4. Set photos have shown the Avengers traveling back in time, most significantly to key events involving Infinity Stones. There's also a small amount of evidence that the film will revisit the events of Captain America: Civil War, and that would make perfect sense too; Stark would be attempting to undo his greatest mistakes, including the division the Avengers suffered as a result of the Sokovia Accords.

It's no coincidence that Tony Stark survived the snap. After looking through the mists of time and viewing countless futures, Doctor Strange fixed upon the single timeline in which the heroes ultimately triumphed. In a cruel twist of fate, that timeline appears to involve Tony Stark suffering the most terrible torture of all; he has to survive his greatest failure. But that very survivor's guilt may hold the key to hope in Avengers 4.