Jon Favreau is finally admitting he was wrong to warn Joe and Anthony Russo against killing off Tony Stark/Iron Man in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Favreau gave rise to the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he cast Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in the 2008 movie of the same name. They re-teamed for 2010’s “Iron Man 2,” with Favreau continuing to work with Downey in other Marvel movies by playing Tony’s assistant and driver Happy Hogan.
“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 remembered on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” about objecting to Iron Man’s “Endgame” death.
“But I have to tell you, it was handled so well by them,” he added. “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.”
The Russo brothers originally revealed in a Vanity Fair video interview that Favreau was staunchly against their decision to kill off Iron Man, with Joe Russo saying: “I remember pacing on the corner of a stage on the phone with Favreau trying to talk him off a ledge because he’s like, ‘You can’t do this. It’s gonna devastate people, and you don’t want them walking out of the theater and into traffic.’ We did it anyway.”
Downey is now returning to Marvel, not not as Iron Man. He’s taking on the villainous Doctor Doom in this December’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” which Favreau said he’s “excited” to watch. The filmmaker lobbied for Downey’s Iron Man casting at a time when Downey’s personal struggles had made him a pariah in Hollywood.
“He was great for Tony Stark,” Favreau said. “As soon was we cast him, everything else was easy decisions. There were a lot of Marvel movies before that… other ‘Spider-Man’ movies, ‘X-Men.’ Nobody knew who Iron Man was. I knew with Robert in that role — to cast someone who is that good of an actor in that type of role — it created something that was bigger.
Watch Favreau’s full interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in the video below.
