Marvel StudiosAmong all the fighting, the time travelling, the various timelines and weird theories on how to defeat Thanos, Avengers: Endgame had some pretty emotional scenes too.
Avengers: Endgame is now the highest-grossing film of all time, so it’s fair to say it got a few things right during its three-hour runtime.
However, (spoiler alert!) though the Avengers do end up ultimately victorious, their win is not without some losses along the way – namely Scarlett Johnansson’s Natasha Romanova/Black Widow and Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Marvel StudiosTony Stark’s funeral was the emotional core at the centre of Endgame. As a side note, it was a weird flex to not give Black Widow a funeral, but she is finally getting an origin movie next year, so maybe that’ll go someway to explaining it.
A newly unveiled deleted scene, however, reveals that Tony’s funeral wasn’t always the solemn centrepiece of the film.
Though it was certainly a group effort which led to the downfall of Thanos, it was Iron Man who made the ultimate sacrifice. Not in keeping with the aforementioned weird theories, after using the Infinity Stones to reduce the Titan and his followers to ash, Stark’s body couldn’t physically recover from ordeal.
In the version of the film released to cinemas, the scene then shifts to some time after the battle, as the remaining superheroes readjust to life, holding a memorial ceremony for Tony in the process.
Marvel StudiosAvailable on the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release of the film next month, a deleted scene shows a slightly different take on Stark’s death, however. According to USA Today, the deleted scene shows what happens on the battlefield immediately after Iron Man dies – Hawkeye is the first to take a knee and bow his head, followed by Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. Soon, everyone is on one knee in honour of the fallen billionaire.
Speaking about the scene, directors Joe and Anthony Russo said:
It’s a beautiful scene with moving performances, but we filmed it prior to Tony Stark’s funeral. The funeral scene ultimately became a more resonant and emotional reflection on Tony’s death for us.
Marvel StudiosOne character who doesn’t take a knee is Zoe Saldana’s Gamora. However, the Gamora on the battlefield is not the same as the one from Infinity War (she was killed by her ‘father’, Thanos). Instead, this Gamora is from the past, who turned against her adoptive dad to work with the Avengers. However, she hasn’t had any interaction with Iron Man, so is unaware of his pivotal role in the whole thing.
The deleted scene reportedly shows this Gamora leaving, though to nowhere specific, so it arguably goes someway to answering what happened to the character at the end of Endgame, and whether she could still appear in the third Guardians of the Galaxy film.
Still waiting for that Black Widow funeral though…
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.