I don’t know what scenes I would have included in Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame on top of the massive amount of material that was already there, outside of the fact that it still should have been Clint. Anyway, USA Today has unveiled a new scene that was cut from the final film that focuses on one of the key emotional beats, and honestly? It’s probably for the best that they cut it out in the end.
The scene centers on the emotional death of Tony Stark, and you can watch it above. As Pepper weeps over his body, the entire Avengers lineup falls to their knees in joint grief. Person by person, they sink to a knee, head bowed in grief. The only one who doesn’t is Gamora, who’s from 2014 and who never met Tony, so she turns and leaves, which explains where she disappeared to after the final battle. It’s an emotional beat, but it’s not my favorite choice that Endgame made, and I’m glad it was removed.
First off, as always, imagine if they had cared this much about Natasha’s death. Natasha sacrificed herself, as well, for the Soul Stone, and yet we get one scene of the gang crying before they move on and she’s only mentioned once afterwards. Again, it would be lovely if Natasha’s sacrifice meant as much as Tony’s to the rest of the characters, but that’s another story for another day.
The scene feels very forced. I get that the characters would respect Tony for his sacrifice, but I don’t feel like some of these characters would particularly know Tony well enough to take a knee. Does Valkyrie even know who Tony Stark is? Have they ever met? Also, did everyone just see what happened? Did the entire battle stop so that the main characters could all watch Tony snap his fingers? It feels manipulative, unlike the funeral scene in the final movie.
When asked why they didn’t include the scene, the Russo brothers 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.”
I completely agree—the scene of all the Marvel characters who would’ve had contact with Tony and a reason to be emotional about his deaths reacting to his loss. Would it have been a better scene if they were honoring Nat, too? Yes, but it’s a scene to honor Tony Stark, the founding hero of the MCU. That works far better than a forced scene where everyone drops to a knee like we’re in one of the last scenes in Lord of the Rings.
Sometimes, less is more, even in the biggest superhero epic of the year.
(via USA Today, image: Marvel)
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