Jon Favreau Admits He Was Wrong to Fight Iron Man's "Avengers: Endgame" Death

When Avengers: Endgame opened in 2019, there were plenty of fans who were very emotional seeing the death of Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, play out in the film's conclusion. But one person who advised against it completely beforehand was Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, though he now says he's changed his tune.

What's Happening:

• Favreau was on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week to promote The Mandalorian and Grogu, the new Star Wars movie he directed, but the conversation also turned to his time directing films for Marvel, and how he kicked off the MCU with Iron Man - and made the crucial decision to cast Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, something he had to fight for at the time.
• Years later, Favreau learned about the plans to kills off Tony in Endgame, which is when he reached out to the directors of that film, brothers Anthony and Joe Russo. As Favreau recounted to Kimmel, "I talked to the Russos. I was like, ‘I don’t know about [this]... I don't know if people are going to like this... I don’t know! I think it’s going to really impact people because there were kids that grew up with that character.'"

• However, Favreau ultimately felt that they were able to successfully make it work, saying, "I have to tell you, it was handled so well by them. And Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Robert [Downey Jr.] did such a wonderful job acting, and I think it added a poignancy to it. I think they did a wonderful job. I was wrong. I was wrong!"
• When Kimmel mentioned people in the audience were indeed crying at Tony's death scene, Favreau replied, "I was choked up! Even though it’s a movie, those people, those characters, have been part of my life for so long."

• Of course, Downey Jr. is now returning to the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday, but playing a totally different character, the villain Dr. Doom, thanks to multiverse shenanigans. Favreau said he's excited to see Doomsday, noting he's also frequently running into Downey and the Russos at various Disney promotional events, such as CinemaCon last week.
• For years, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has insisted they will not undo Tony's big sacrificial death, though it feels like Downey returning as Doom gives them some wiggle room, since the assumption is he'll be unmasked at some point and Tony's friends will have to process their enemy looking like their dead friend... and of course, who's to say Downey won't at least pop up by Avengers: Secret Wars as an Iron Man, even if it's not our Iron Man?
• Only time, and the multiverse, will tell....