The death of Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame wound up becoming one of the most defining and heartbreaking moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Jon Favreau didn’t want it to happen.

Jon Favreau on Tony’s Death in Avengers: Endgame

As Favreau was there for the birth of the MCU with Iron Man and cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, it’s only natural that he would be protective of the character. And when he learned that Stark would be making the ultimate sacrifice in Endgame, he called directors Joe and Anthony Russo to try to talk them out of it.

“I called the Russos. I was like, ‘I don’t know about — I don’t think people — I don’t know if people are going to like — I don’t know! I think it’s going to really impact people because there they were kids that grew up with that character,‘” Favreau explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Obviously, the Russos did their own thing, and Favreau later admitted he was wrong. “But I have to tell you, it was handled so well by them,” he said. “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. I was choked up! Even though it’s a movie, those characters have been part of my life for so long.“

Personally, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Tony didn’t die in Avengers: Endgame, and I doubt the movie would have been as impactful without it.

Avengers: Endgame Re-Release

At CinemaCon, it was announced that Avengers: Endgame would be re-released on September 25. And most interestingly, it will include some new footage that will help set up Avengers: Doomsday. “It’s critically important to re-release the movie, and, in fact, we’ll be re-releasing the film with footage that is set in the Doomsday story that we have added to Avengers: Endgame,” said Joe Russo. “It’s an opportunity to create a bridge from Endgame to Doomsday in a very unique way, and because the movie was so successful, we have an opportunity to re-release it. You don’t always get the chance to re-release because it costs money, so the fact that we can enhance the story of Doomsday by bridging it to Endgame and these characters that we worked with for years that we love so much, and continue their story: It’s a really unique opportunity.“