Sure, everyone dies, and we don't see Stark specifically meet his doom but, somewhere out there, another cartoon Iron Man drank his final scotch. Distraught by Christine's death, Strange breaks the rules of reality to save her, but winds up destroying his entire universe. In this corner of the multiverse, Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer never broke up, and are together on the night of Strange's fateful car crash. The evil ex-Ant-Man killed Stark from inside.Ī slight cop-out, but What If.?'s Doctor Strange episode also kills Tony Stark. Initially, Stark appears to have been poisoned, but a flashback explains how a miniaturized Pym was hiding in the hypo Black Widow injected into Tony's neck.
He starts the spree by killing Tony Stark during Iron Man 2's diner scene. Hank Pym responds badly, and becomes a bitter, vengeful Yellowjacket determined to ruin SHIELD's Avengers program before it begins. In this timeline, Hope van Dyne is killed (possibly by the Winter Soldier) whilst working for SHIELD. Tony Stark escapes What If.?'s opening couplet of episodes, which focus on Peggy's Captain Carter and T'Challa's Star-Lord, respectively, but the fun(?) begins in episode 3. Alternately, Marvel might be sending fans a message to dull hopes of Robert Downey Jr. Some believe Tony Stark's multiverse of misery is connected to He Who Remains stopping Kang the Conqueror, who might've used Stark's tech for villainous ends. Related: What If Made Tony Stark's Iron Legion Plan Incredibly Weak
Similarly, Tony Stark's death created an emotive, serious moment in Avengers: Endgame, so What If.? riffs on that by turning his death into a running gag.
Because Thanos posed such a serious threat in mainline MCU continuity, What If.? deliberately makes the villain ridiculous. Thanos, for example, was the overarching big bad of the live-action franchise, but is treated as a punchline in What If.?, where he's a bartender, a zombie, and "Nebula's dad," before getting "perfectly balanced" in a one-sided fight with Ultron. Of course, a focus on tragedy also means more MCU heroes kicking buckets.Ĭonstantly killing Tony Stark also continues What If.?'s subversion of serious MCU moments. Many What If.? episodes also conclude in tragic circumstances - an intentional move designed to build toward an epic crossover finale. This means plenty of character deaths, and as the flag-bearer for the Infinity saga, it's only natural that Iron Man bear the brunt of that burden. According to Bradley, the What If.? team sought to make the most of their creative freedom, doing things the MCU simply can't get away with in live-action. Instead, the writer attributes Tony Stark's uncanny bad luck to 2 distinct factors - the boundless nature of the multiverse, and the tragic tone What If.? deliberately aims for. Bradley even suggests that the pattern wasn't even noticed until viewers began pointing it out on social media. "How will What If.? kill Tony Stark this week?" has become a fun mini-game for Marvel fans keeping up with the Disney+ animated series, but what is it actually happening? Is What If.?'s Stark-icide a running joke from the writers, an accidental symptom of the multiverse anthology format, or something else entirely?Īccording to What If.? head writer AC Bradley, the dark habit of bumping off Iron Man came about entirely by accident. What If.? episode 8 gives Tony Stark an exit that resonates deeply with his MCU character arc. Though What If.? treats Tony Stark like its own personal Kenny, none of these deaths match Iron Man's emotional final moments in Avengers: Endgame - except one. Related: What If…? Episode 8 Cast Guide: Every New & Returning MCU Character
While subverting typical Marvel tropes in each and every episode, What If.? also delights in finding new and exciting ways to murder Iron Man, racking up an impressive total of 5 "final" scenes across season 1 alone. We've seen Thor growing up an only child, Yondu abducting T'Challa instead of Peter Quill, and Peggy Carter becoming a super soldier. What If.? takes a fresh scenario each week and asks how a small alteration to the timeline would impact MCU history. Only those with a heart as stony as Korg's and icy as Baby Loki's would've felt unmoved by Stark's epic final snap to defeat Thanos, especially when punctuating his noble sacrifice with " I am Iron Man." Widely regarded as the ideal death scene for Marvel's very first MCU hero, Iron Man's live-action farewell truly meant something.Ĭan the same be said for his animated death in Disney+ anthology series, What If.? That depends which version you're talking about. Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man served as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's heart and soul for over a decade, so it was vital that Avengers: Endgamegive Tony Stark a fitting sendoff. but only after killing off Tony Stark a total of 5 times. What If.? eventually does Iron Man's death the right way.