Avengers: Endgame Have Joe and Anthony Russo give a Iron Man & Loki MCU
Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo give a comically dark explanation as to why they killed off Loki and Iron Man in the MCU. Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo give a dark explanation for the deaths of Loki and Iron Man in the MCU. The Russo Brothers first entered the MCU.
America: The Winter Soldier and then the follow-up, Captain America: Civil War. The success of those two films, particularly with the massive ensemble cast of Civil War, led to them taking on both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the latter of which became the most successful MCU movie to date and the second-highest grossing movie of all time. The opening of Avengers: Infinity War had Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki squaring off with Thanos, who ended up killing Loki (as well as Heimdall and a vast number of Asgardians), leaving Thor vowing revenge for the murder of his half brother.
The end of Avengers: Endgame, Iron Man/Tony Stark, as played by Robert Downey Jr., gave the ultimate sacrifice by stealing the Infinity Stones away from Thanos and “snapping” him and his army to dust, before dying himself. Both Iron Man and Loki’s deaths were controversial in that they both served a purpose in the story, but left many fans distraught over their loss.
Loki was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, the time-traveling plot that unfolded later in the film had 2012’s Loki from The Avengers finding a second chance at life, escaping his captors and eventually making his way to the Time Variance Authority, as he himself is now a “time variant” version of himself. This led to the multiverse unfolding, which has opened many doors in the MCU, as demonstrated in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Iron Man, on the other hand, has remained dead and buried and likely will stay that way unless Marvel entices Downey Jr. back in some capacity or another.
It’s hard to say definitively that either Loki or Iron Man “deserved” to die, but it’s not that difficult to rationalize it as such. Loki is a villain, after all, and has caused the deaths of innocents, while constantly plotting to overthrow Asgard, Earth, or anywhere that he can dig his mischievous hands into. For Stark, there’s the question of his weapons being distributed all over the world and causing death and destruction along the way, so perhaps his sacrifice had more to it than just making a hero play. Even though it appears the Avengers: Endgame directors are being somewhat sarcastic in their responses, there’s still some truth to unpack in their statements that’s fair game to debate among MCU fans.
Promotional rounds (via Wired) for their latest film, Netflix’s The Gray Man, the Russo Brothers addressed the death of the God of Mischief and Stark, giving a comically dark response. When posed with the question of why they killed off Loki, Joe Russo dryly says, “He deserved to die. That’s all we’re saying about that.” When posed with the same question, but for Stark, Joe Russo reiterates the same reason that they killed off Loki, saying, “He deserved to die.” The Russo Brothers seem to be having fun with the question and not taking it that seriously, but perhaps there’s some truth to the notion, even amidst their humor.