Captain America: Civil War: 9 Most Compelling Pieces Of Evidence That Proves Iron Man Will Die

5. It Promises A Bold Future

The entire MCU started with Iron Man, and since then Tony Stark has become a pivot for the world; his standalone movies are financial highlights and he was a dominant individual in both Avengers movies. It may be a whole universe with an strong, interlinked ensemble cast, but there's no denying Robert Downey, Jr. is the star. Now, the Phase structure is now a little bit defunct (the first had a clear goal, but now it's essentially a way to compartmentalise the mass of movies), but it would be a strong start to wave three to show things are going to go in fresh, bold directions by offing the most prominent hero. Avengers: Age Of Ultron felt a bit like stagnation, reversing several key developments from preceding films to essentially return the MCU back to an earlier status quo. That's hardly surprising - it makes more sense from marketing perspective and is how the comics broadly operate - but when a key selling point is providing an evolving world it feels rather counter-intuitive. Carefully offing Iron Man is a way to show that, despite all that, Marvel mean business.