Avengers: Endgame - Captain America & Iron Man's Fates Explained

4. Iron Man Sacrifices Himself To Stop Thanos' Army

Avengers Endgame Iron Man 2
Marvel Studios

Going into Endgame, there was a prevailing sense among fans that either one of Tony Stark or Steve Rogers would pass away. Most thought the latter; with Captain America lacking a reason to stop being a soldier, and with Tony seemingly set on starting up a family, it just seemed inevitable that Steve would die so that Stark could live.

Having seen Endgame now, obviously that didn't turn out to be the case.

After succeeding in their 'time heist' to resurrect those killed by Thanos' decimation, the time-travelling Mad Titan travels to the present to kill the Avengers and steal their newly-forged Infinity Gauntlet. Fortunately for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, their fallen allies arrive just in time to take on Thanos and his army, with Captain America, Iron Man and Thor all leading the charge against him.

Despite their efforts, Thanos comes dangerously close to reclaiming the Gauntlet. After conferring with Doctor Strange, who confirms to Tony that this is the one future where they win, Stark swipes the Infinity Stones from right underneath the Mad Titan's nose, fuses them into his armour, and snaps his fingers. Thanos, the Black Order and his army all crumble to dust, but the power of the gems prove to be too much for Stark, who collapses to the floor in a critical state.

There, unable to speak, he says goodbye to Rhodey, Peter and Pepper. Then, he passes away, his last act having ensured the survival of half the universe. A more fitting send-off couldn't be possible.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.