Avengers Endgame directors reveal who came up with Robert Downey Jr’s famous last words in the film

The Russo Brothers tried ‘a million different last lines’ for Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, and landed on ‘I am Iron Man’ at the very last moment. The filmmakers made the revelation at a recent Q&A session post the release of the Marvel film.

They credited editor Jeff Ford for coming up with the idea to have Tony say his famous line from the original Iron Man film from 2008. They said, according to SlashFilm, “Tony used to not say anything in that moment. And we were in the editing room going, ‘He has to say something. This a character who has lived and died by quips.’ And we just couldn’t, we tried a million different last lines. Thanos was saying “I am inevitable.” And our editor Jeff Ford, who’s been with us all four movies and is an amazing storyteller, said ‘Why don’t we just go full circle with it and say I am Iron Man.’ And we’re like, ‘Get the cameras! We have to shoot this tomorrow!’”

The scene involves Downey Jr’s Tony Stark displaying some magical sleight of hand skills and taking the Infinity Stones from Thanos. He snaps his fingers and restores order to the universe, which had been sent into disarray by the Mad Titan in Avengers: Infinity War.

Also read: Avengers Endgame actors’ salaries revealed: You won’t believe how much Robert Downey Jr took home as Iron Man

Stark was one of the founding members of the Avengers, and headlined the first film in the record-breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe. Anthony Russo told the Hollywood Reporter recently that Downey Jr had ‘mixed feelings’ about his arc when he was first pitched the story by the Russos. “Once we decided we wanted this kind of ending for the character, we certainly wanted to make sure Robert was comfortable with it, just because of his enormous contribution to the MCU,” he said. “I think Downey may have had mixed emotions about thinking about [where Tony Stark ends up in Endgame], but I think at the end of the day, he totally accepted it.”

Avengers: Endgame has already made $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office, and has broken multiple box office records. The film is on track to challenge the all-time record set by James Cameron’s Avatar.

Follow @htshowbiz for more