Sorry, Team Iron Man: Cap Pulled Tony Stark's Iconic Sacrifice Years Earlier
The MCU creators might have chosen Iron Man to become the self-sacrificing hero of the Infinity Saga because for Captain America such a move would be too familiar.
Endgame has become a shock for many MCU fans who had to say goodbye to several beloved superheroes at once.
The most mourned characters are probably the first generation of the Avengers, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr. ) who sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos and return the blipped life, and Captain America ( Chris Evans ) who went back in time to live a happy life and become old with his one and only love interest, Peggy Carter.
To some viewers, such division of arc conclusions might seem a bit out-of-character.
Many would actually say that Steve Rogers was more likely to sacrifice himself for the greater good because of his undeniable dedication to his superhero status and the responsibility it entails.
Iron Man, on the other hand, had always been a bit self-absorbed. However, the storylines given to both characters in Endgame actually make sense and seem beautifully designed on closer examination.
Captain America doing Stark's deadly Snap would be predictable and repetitive. Steve already pulled a similar self-sacrificial act of heroism eight years before Endgame in Captain America: The First Avenger.
In the movie, Steve crashes Red Skull's plane full of weapons of mass destruction to avoid a catastrophic event and ensure the defeat of the Mad Titan. This move was suicidal because no one could know then that Cap would survive being frozen in the Arctic for nearly seventy years.
This storyline of The First Avenger is very similar to that of Endgame because both superheroes give up a lot for the greater good.
When Tony decides to do the Snap, he chooses to sacrifice not only his life but his future with Pepper and Morgan for the sake of others. Similarly, Cap sacrifices his future with Peggy the moment he decides to crash the plane.
That's why Steve Rogers performing the final snap in Endgame wouldn't be as tragic and surprising as when Tony Stark does it. Seeing Cap get the happy-ever-after ending he definitely deserved looks like a fresh and fitting take on his story. On the other hand, Tony's sacrifice serves as a fitting ending to his long arc. The one who started as a selfish privileged rich man ended up saving the whole galaxy.