Avengers: Endgame made fans cheer in theaters. But everyone became silent when Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark uttered “I am Iron Man” and snapped the Infinity gauntlet. Tears started rolling down every fan’s eyes when his hologram said, “I love you 3000” to his little daughter. That scene happened about 3 years ago. But to this day, many don’t know that there was a deleted scene involving the same dialogue with Iron Man and Katherine Langford. But fans who know about the existence of this deleted moment are now lamenting the fact that Marvel Studios decided to butcher it.
Robert Downey Jr. And Katherine Langford In Avengers: Endgame
Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and Katherine Langford’s Morgan Stark
In the theatrical version of Avengers: Endgame, Robert Downey Jr.’s hero left behind a hologram that expressed his love for his little daughter played by Lexi Rabe. “I love you 3000” became the phrase that was used everywhere after the film was released. But there was a deleted scene where Morgan Stark was an adult played by Katherine Langford.
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Tony Stark and little Morgan Stark
Originally, the scene was going to take place right after Stark snapped his fingers and brought back everyone. He then went to the soul world and met an adult version of his child. Here’s how the conversation went between them:
Tony Stark: “So it worked.”
Morgan Stark: “Yeah it worked for me. I got to live and grow up. For you, I can’t answer.”
Tony Stark: “I think I might have made a bad decision, I am scared to make a mistake.”
Morgan Stark: “I know, it’s gonna be tough for you to let go. But someone had to do that so the rest of us could… I am proud of you and sad. I am strong like mom and I am happy that we had the time that we did and that you were there for me until you couldn’t be”
Tony Stark: “If you are happy, I am happy.”
Morgan Stark: “I love you.”
Tony Stark: “I love your 3000.”
Initially, when the scene was released, the audience reception wasn’t too positive. Many felt that it was too abrupt and the unfinished CGI probably didn’t help the case. However, 3 years later, fans feel differently about it. Now, the general feeling is that Marvel Studios shouldn’t have deleted the scene because it made Stark see his daughter all grown up and know that she actually had a good life without him.
But why did Marvel originally delete the scene? It was because the directors felt that audiences would fail to connect with Langford.
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Why Did Marvel Studios Delete The Soul World Scene?
the Russo Brothers
The directors of Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers (Joe and Anthony Russo), explained their reasoning behind removing the scene during an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2020. They said that it was deleted because they didn’t feel an emotional connection to an adult Morgan Stark. As per the directors:
“What we realized about it was we didn’t feel an emotional association with the adult version of his daughter. It wasn’t ringing to us and resonating with us on an emotional level, which is why we moved away from it.”
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But that’s not all. The duo also felt that keeping the scene made the movie more complicated than it already was. They explained:
“There was an idea that we had where Tony was going to go the metaphysical way station where Thanos saw his daughter when he snapped his finger. There was going to be a future version of his daughter in that way station. The intention was that his future daughter forgave him, and sort of gave him peace to go. And the idea felt resonant. But it was just too many ideas in an overly complicated movie.”
Overall, Marvel Studios and the Russo brothers took the best decision for the film. Emotions were running high when Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man sacrificed himself to save everyone. So immediately cutting to a scene with a version of a character audiences felt no connection with would have reduced the impact of the moment and perhaps it wouldn’t have made the “I love you 3000” line feel that iconic.
Source: YouTube
