Anyway, I'm back. First, I want to share something about last post's topic that I found after I made that post. Apparently, Hawkeye was the one who was originally going to die, but when visual effects producer Jen Underdahl saw that draft, she said, "Don't you take this away from her." Here's the link to the story about this.
I agree with what they say; it was right, storywise, for Natasha to fall but it would have been melodramatic for Clint to die.
But I digress. Today we're talking about Tony Stark.
I think this death was a major upset for viewers, but I have to say, I was not surprised and I think most viewers at least had an inkling that this was going to be Tony's last stand. I just think he's such a popular character that most fans weren't exactly happy to watch him die.
As for me, I wasn't exactly happy, but it was well-written and right for him to die, and so I was satisfied.
Here are my reasons.
If Natasha Romanoff's character arc can be defined as "redemption," Tony's is "selflessness." When we first meet him, he is the epitome of selfish. He's a rich playboy who doesn't think about what his weapons company does or who hurts because of it. Until he's forced to see firsthand.
From that point on, Tony's arc is all about becoming more and more selfless. But I argue that this transformation doesn't happen overnight. Which is realistic; patterns of behavior don't magically change. It takes work and time and paradigm shifts before that happens.
For many movies beyond Iron Man, Tony is still pretty selfish. I don't mean he's a bad person; I think a lot of his actions are motivated by how much he wants to help others. But those motivations are still, I think, centered in himself and how he feels and what he wants.
In Iron Man 2, Tony thinks he's dying (and he is) so he acts recklessly and pushes people away, because that's easier for him to do than straight-up tell people, especially Pepper, that he's dying. He takes the easy way out, despite that not being what would be best for them. It's coming in part from a place of love, but it's still an action that is easier for Tony, not for others.
This selfishness is even clearer in Age of Ultron and Civil War. Ultron only happens because Tony is scared, and because he feels scared, he believes he knows what's right for everyone else in the world and he needs to put a suit of armor around the world. Just so he isn't scared anymore. Yes, he has PTSD. The Avengers plot leads to us seeing that heavily in Iron Man 3.
But like I said, patterns of thought and behavior don't change overnight. Tony responds to his PTSD and fears by acting selfishly. By denying his team any knowledge of his plans just so they can't stop him or at least counsel him out of acting foolishly, by creating an evil robot with technology he didn't understand, by deciding that he knows best and everyone needs to go along with it.
There's a reason Scarlet Witch was grinning after she amped up those fears.
Tony's the same in Civil War: he's scared, and he believes he knows what's best. While we see Steve Rogers reconsider his point of view, Tony never does. And, interestingly, although Tony is on the side of the Accords (because, I think, he thinks he needs to be put in check), he consistently breaks them to 1) recruit a minor who, I remind you, does not sign the Accords, 2) join up with Captain America to storm a Siberian fortress, and 3) put General Ross on hold.
That last one may not be deliberately against the Accords, but considering that under the Accords, the Avengers are supposed to do as the governments say, it's definitely frowned on.
The whole movie shows Tony trying to do the right thing, but again and again breaking his own "code" because it's convenient for him, or else trying to force everyone else to join his side because he's convinced he's right.
At this point, I want to address the argument that Tony consistently is willing to sacrifice his life for the team. I agree, but I would also point out that in those situations it's not an inevitable sacrifice, and in many of these movies Tony is likely at a point where he doesn't really feel like he has much to lose by dying.
Which brings me to Endgame. In this movie, Tony gets married to Pepper and has a daughter. So, when the Avengers come to his door and say there's a chance they can fix everything, he says no.
Why? Tony has come out of the Snap with the woman he loves alive, and he has a daughter. He doesn't want to time travel and risk ruining his present. An understandable reason, but pretty selfish, especially when you consider what everyone else in the UNIVERSE has lost. Scott Lang actually calls him out on it, reminding him that he has lost people he cares about, and so have trillions of others.
I don't condemn Tony for being human; I think it makes him a really compelling character. But you have to admit, it's pretty selfish.
You see this highlighted when Tony comes to help, finally, after much deliberation and considering burying what he discovered about time travel (he wouldn't, and we know it, because he's a good guy at heart). When Tony arrives at Avengers HQ, he says his priorities: to get back what they lost, if they can, but he can't lose what he has now.
Contrast this with Natasha's "whatever it takes." Tony is not willing to do whatever it takes.
But then Natasha, the Avenger who is probably emotionally closer to Tony than anyone else, dies. Remember what I said: she's the one with the strongest ties to all of them.
I think this is where Tony starts to see the stakes in a new way. If Natasha died for this, and he doesn't go through with it "whatever it takes," then her death may have been for nothing. It's no longer a choice of "if we can"; they can no longer fail and say, "Oh, well, we took a good stab at it. Time to go home, everyone."
No. Natasha gave it everything she had. To give less now, and fail, would make her sacrifice meaningless.
So, fast forward to the end. Dr. Strange tells Tony that he can't yet tell him if this outcome is the one where they win. Then Thanos gets the stones again, and Tony looks over at Strange, who is holding up one finger.
This is it. This is the one.
I think it's at that point that Tony realizes why Strange didn't tell him earlier: they only win if Tony takes back the stones and uses them, which would absolutely kill him. If he does this, he is saving the universe but losing his wife and daughter, who are what he has to live for now.
But he does it.
In this moment, Tony is making a completely selfless sacrifice. He's finally doing "whatever it takes" to save the universe, knowing he won't see the good come from it. He's thinking about others first, putting them above himself, even though he's probably scared. He's letting Dr. Strange be the one who knows best, and he's listening instead of pushing through what's better for him at the time.
And that's why I liked this death, how it's written. We see how much Tony Stark has grown, and we see him complete the arc toward selflessness. We see the funeral and how many people care for him now, in contrast to where he started. The story ends, and it ends in a blaze of glory as is appropriate for Tony.
Tony's death also helps complete Steve's arc, which is the opposite of Tony's: toward more selfishness, toward finding a life outside of self-sacrifice. This movie does a great job of using the deaths to impact the other characters. Death is a weighty thing; it makes sense that it would make large ripples.
Anyway, that's it on Endgame. If you have comments, share them. Next week I'll be back with analysis of a more literary nature.
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