The Epic Set Footage of Robert Downey Jr.’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Snap Has Dropped Online — Watch
Zack Sharf
The crown jewel of “Avengers: Endgame” set footage has dropped on social media courtesy of Robert Downey Jr.’s assistant, Jimmy Rich. The brief behind-the-scenes video from the making of the Marvel blockbuster reveals the moment the production captured Tony Stark’s climactic snap on camera. Even the green screen on set can’t distract from the intensity Downey Jr. brings to his MCU-defining “I am Iron Man” line. The snap itself lands with an even bigger impact in the set footage since there’s no Infinity Gauntlet CGI getting in the way of the visuals.
“Avengers: Endgame” directors Anthony and Joe Russo revealed in May shortly after the film’s opening that Tony’s “I am Iron Man” line was not originally scripted. The line is a callback to the same declaration Tony made at the end of “Iron Man,” the 2008 origin story that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a sense, the “I am Iron Man” line brings the entire 11-year history of the MCU full circle and is all the more poignant since it defines Tony’s last selfless act before his death.
“Tony used to not say anything in that moment,” the directors said. “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 Iron Man moment captured in the video below was the last thing the Russo brothers shot during “Endgame” reshoots. “Endgame” is now playing in theaters nationwide.
