What The Hell, Marvel?: Tony Stark’s Death In ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Was Originally Gruesome AF

tony stark

Marvel Studios


Let me just begin this article by saying that if the title somehow spoiled the ending of Avengers: Endgame for you, then I apologize, but I don’t know what the fuck you expect, if we’re being honest.

The movie has made more money than any other film in the history of cinema and has been out in the world eight months now. Actually, come to think of it, if you’ve somehow only learned that Iron Man dies at the end of Endgame just now, then I suggest you get out a little more. Meet some people, talk about current events. Just a suggestion.

Anyway, back to our favorite genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, who heroically laid down his life to save the rest of the universe by snapping Thanos and his ballsack chin into the ether.

The scene was epic, rewarding, and heartbreaking, and will stand the test of time as one of the all-time iconic moments in the history of comic book movies. But apparently, Marvel Studios originally had a much more gruesome ending for Tony Stark planned.

Speaking to Insider, VFX supervisor Matt Aitken recently revealed they originally considered a much gorier end for Iron Man:

“Those were the last shots that were delivered, and the key to all that was about finding a balance between seeing that Tony is suffering this incredible damage from exposure to the power of the stones… but also allowing him his moment. We couldn’t make it to gory because it would detract from his performance, and that was very important.”

“So we had the flesh on his face bubbling with the energy; it was way too gory. That didn’t fit. That last day or two that we were working on it, I think this is less than two weeks to go until the premiere, I was about finding that balance.” [via Insider]

I mean, fuckin’ a, Marvel — imagine sitting in the movie theater with your 11-year-old nephew and watching Iron Man’s beloved face bubble up and melt off. Little homies across the nation would be traumatized.

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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.