Several Alternate Endgame Death Scenes Exist & It Was Way Worse
According to Endgame's editor, the many versions of Tony Stark's final moment were not as good as the one that was ultimately included in the film.
Jeff Ford gained recognition in the MCU when the Russo brothers revealed that their long-time editing partner thought of Tony Stark's iconic last words, "I am Iron Man," in the latest Avengers franchise installment.
When talking to Collider about the famous scene, Ford stated that many different versions of it were filmed due to Robert Downey Jr. 's acting process, but none of them was as good as the version that made it to the movie.
The editor explained that being an intuitive actor, Downey Jr. likes to experiment and try different approaches on camera in the hopes of capturing something special. And very often he does.
That's why, according to Ford, the Russo brothers allowed the famed actor the freedom to make various alternate takes of the iconic Tony Stark's final scene.
The scene shows Thanos attempting to create another Blip. However, Tony Stark, who has outsmarted him and taken hold of the stones, performs his own Snap, which wipes out Thanos and his army but also results in Iron Man's own death. The short but significant scene is widely praised by viewers for Robert Downey Jr.'s outstanding performance.
Jeff Ford shared it was not the first and only performance for that scene. The actor surely shot various versions which Ford described as being emotional, raw, and crazy. He credited Downey Jr. for doing extremely different variations, some of which were jokes, some were profanities, and some were a combination of many different emotions.
Ford stated that the creative team had a favorite take for a long time, where both opponents said nothing at all. Josh Brolin and Robert Downey Jr.'s performances were so powerful that no dialogue was needed.
However, the team wanted this moment to not only be Tony's last but also the conclusion to Thanos's arc, so they added the line "I am inevitable" spoken by Thanos for the third time in the movie. Besides creating perfect script symmetry, the line conveyed the meaning "I am destiny. You cannot win."
When the creators included Tony's final line, it was as if he was saying, "Yes, we can." It was a fitting response to the Big Bad and has become the best version of the scene, leaving many fans emotional.