With the constant stream of content Marvel Studios releases, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the conclusion to the over-a decade-long Infinity Saga came to its dramatic end two years ago already. Avengers: Endgame (2019), released after Captain Marvel (2019), became one of — if not the biggest — crossover event in movie history, as it brought together the massive casts of over twenty films that make up Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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The MCU has dominated the box office ever since its inception in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s hit, Iron Man, starring Marvel legend, Robert Downey Jr. Tony Stark became a fan-favorite of the Avengers franchise and Downey Jr. went on to star as the billionaire business man meets world-saving hero in nine MCU installments — including his own trilogy, Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).
The Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe — who also directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) starring Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America) and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier), as well as Civil War and the Avengers Infinity Saga two-part finale — brought the MCU Phase 3 to a climatic history-making finish.
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Well, it did make history, kind of.
2019 saw Avengers: Endgame take the title of Highest Grossing Box Office Movie from James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) for a short period of time, until Avatar reclaimed the crown this year after its China re-release. The directing duo took it in their stride however, sharing a congratulations message to Cameron on their Instagram account.
Due to the two year anniversary of the movie, many of the MCU’s cast have been sharing memories, never-before-seen photos — like these ones from the Russo Brothers — and unseen on-set footage.
In a huge “I Love You 3000” moment to Marvel fans everywhere, Downey Jr. shared an intimate behind-the-scenes clip of Avengers: Endgame.
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What did Robert Downey Jr. reveal?
Sharing to his huge Twitter following, the Iron Man actor revealed a behind-the-scenes clip from Avengers: Endgame along with a heartfelt message to Marvel fans everywhere.
While this set footage isn’t clarified to be from a deleted scene, Downey Jr.’s video suggests that it is from the climatic moment that didn’t quite make it to the final film. As Tony Stark turns, you can just catch a glimpse of Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why, Knives Out) — who was set to star as the older incarnation of Tony and Pepper Potts’s daughter, Morgan. In the final cut, we only ever get to meet young Morgan — played by Lexi Rabe.
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The scene seemingly saw Tony meet Morgan in the Soul World after using the Infinity Gauntlet to sacrifice himself. Tony saved everyone from Thanos’s (Josh Brolin) devastating snap, which saw half of the entire universe obliterated at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.
This reunion of father and daughter saw Tony discussing his sacrifice with a now older Morgan, before ending with the now iconic “I Love You 3000” line, that has cemented itself into the Marvel lexicon due to its emotional weight in the finale to the Infinity Saga. The heartfelt scene would mimic how the mad titan Thanos saw Gamora (Zoe Saldana) in the Soul World after using the Infinity Stones at the end of Infinity War during the Battle of Wakanda.
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Why was Katherine Langford cut from Avengers: Endgame?
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have previously discussed removing the scene from the movie. Speaking to CinemaBlend back in 2019, Joe Russo said pointed out the mirroring of Tony and Thanos’s Soul World scenes:
“Since Thanos had that poignant experience with his daughter in Infinity War, we started playing with the idea that there was something interesting and resonant in the symmetry with Tony and his daughter.”
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The Avengers director went on to add:
“The reason we ended up moving away from it is, once we shot it, we began to understand as we were actually shooting it, is that the audience didn’t have a relationship with his adult daughter in the film. They had a relationship with his young daughter but not with his adult daughter. It didn’t feel like it was as powerful as we may have thought so we began to move away from it.”
While we don’t know if Robert Downey Jr. will ever return to the MCU, there have been rumors that suggest he could perhaps make an appearance in one of the upcoming Marvel shows slated for Disney+. It must be noted, that neither the Walt Disney Company or Marvel Studios have commented on Tony Stark / Iron Man returning in any capacity, and this is all just speculation.
Furthermore, many fans are hoping to see RDJ join the Star Wars universe as Grand Admiral Thrawn in Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s continuing The Mandalorian saga. Again, however, this has not been confirmed.
The MCU’s Phase 4 continues though, with WandaVision and the recently wrapped The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Black Widow (2021) launching in the summer. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness sees Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Loki appear alongside Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange. And, Thor fans will see the Asgardian Avenger return in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder. Both movies will release in 2022.
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And even after two years, it’s still clear that the world still reels from the death of this iconic Avenger. We “Love You 3000”, RDJ!
Do you think the Tony and Morgan scene should have stayed in the movie?
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