Robert Downey Jr. Predicted Iron Man’s Death 11 Years Before It Happened

Iron Man made the ultimate sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame, and Robert Downey Jr. may have predicted his character's death eleven years earlier. Tony Stark starts his journey as an arrogant and egotistical billionaire before growing into a selfless hero obsessed with protecting the world from harm. Throughout his time as Iron Man, Tony Stark proves time and time again that he is willing to put his life on the line to save others.

In his standalone Iron Man films, Tony Stark becomes devoted to protecting the world from the deadly weapons that he helped create. In The Avengers, Stark is willing to sacrifice his life by protecting New York City from both an alien invasion and a nuclear bomb. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony acts out of fear of not being able to protect the world from extraterrestrial threats which leads to Tony Stark creating Ultron, a peacekeeping program using artificial intelligence meant to shield the world from danger. In Captain America: Civil War, Tony takes action to try to protect the world from the destruction that can come from the unregulated actions of the Avengers themselves. Finally, in Avengers: Endgame, when the survival of half of the population in the universe is on the line, who better than Tony Stark, the man who consistently puts his life at risk to protect others, to make the sacrifice play and use the infinity stones to eliminate Thanos and his army.

A behind-the-scenes look at Robert Downey Jr. filming Iron Man revealed the actor's eerie prediction for the character's eventual death. In this Iron Man documentary, Robert Downey Jr. says about his character, Tony Stark, "he’s probably just as likely to kill himself trying to save people as he is to do the right thing". In this context, Downey Jr. is referring to his unsteady control of the Iron Man suit, but the comment underscores Robert Downey Jr.'s understanding of Tony Stark's character at its core. The statement is a spot-on prediction, as Iron Man consistently faces death trying to save people until he finally succeeds in giving his life to protect everyone else's.

How RDJ's Iron Man Death Prediction Makes Endgame Even Better

Robert Downey Jr.'s prediction of Iron Man's death eleven years prior only enhances the sacrifice that was made in Avengers: Endgame. Not only did Robert Downey Jr. demonstrate how much he knows the character, but the statement makes it feel like Iron Man's sacrificial Avengers: Endgame death was the only proper conclusion to the character's journey. Downey Jr. and the creators of Iron Man may not have known exactly what the future of the character would be, but they understood Tony Stark and how he needed to grow as a person and a hero.

Robert Downey Jr. predicted that Tony Stark's selflessness would be his downfall eleven years before the character's emotional death. The prediction made while filming the first Iron Man movie adds newfound emotion and depth to the character's final sacrifice. There is a comfort in knowing that Robert Downey Jr. believed from the beginning that Iron Man's Avengers: Endgame death was a likely and fitting conclusion for the character.

Next: What If Iron Man Survived Endgame's Snap? How Phases 4-6 Change