Is Tony Stark Really Dead?

After the climactic end of Marvel’s Infinity Saga and the first 3 phases of the MCU, Phase 4 is bringing in new heroes and an epic new multiversal story. But fans are also still grieving the deaths of some of their favorite characters, including Natasha Romanoff, Vision, and Tony Stark, A.K.A. Iron Man. But is Tony Stark really dead? I mean, like really really dead? Is there any chance he could be coming back in future phases? Here’s what you need to know!

Tony’s Sacrifice

Tony’s death is first set up in Avengers: Infinity War, when Doctor Strange uses his magic to explore more than 14 million possible outcomes to the Avengers’ fight with Thanos. When he comes out of his trance, Stephen says there’s only one outcome out of all of them in which the Avengers win. Later, when Thanos is on the verge of killing Tony, Stephen hurriedly gives Thanos the time stone, saving Tony’s life. Stephen’s actions don’t seem to make any sense at the time. Why kill half the universe just to save one man’s life?

In Endgame, though, Stephen’s longterm plan becomes clear. After the Avengers get all the Infinity Stones back and undo Thanos’s snap, Thanos himself comes back with the Chitauri army and tries to defeat the Avengers for good. The Avengers try to get the stones to Scott Lang’s van so that they can transport them back to their respective places in the timeline, but Thanos’s army proves too strong.

Then, when all seems lost, Stephen gives Tony a meaningful look and holds up one finger, signaling that this moment is the one chance to defeat Thanos that he saw when he looked into the future. Tony understands what Stephen is telling him, and grafts the stones to his own suit so he can snap Thanos and his army away. The catch, though, is that the radiation from the stones is too much for Tony’s human body to withstand, and he dies on the battlefield.

Tony’s funeral is the emotional cap to the Infinity Saga, with all the MCU’s remaining heroes coming to pay their respects as Pepper launches a wreath into the lake by his house. The funeral scene is the MCU’s way of signaling that yes, Tony is really and truly dead, and it functions as much as a memorial for the sake of his fans as it does a memorial for Tony in the Marvel universe.

But, I mean, this is Marvel we’re talking about. Marvel brings characters back all the time, right? Loki and Gamora both died in the Infinity Saga, and their characters were simply reset thanks to the Avengers’ time heist. Even Vision came back as White Vision thanks to Wanda’s Hex and S.W.O.R.D.’s experiments in WandaVision. Marvel could bring Iron Man back to the MCU anytime they wanted. So will they?

Tony’s Legacy and Multiverse Rumors

To hammer home the gravity of Tony’s sacrifice—and the fact that yes, he’s really dead—Phase 4 of the MCU contains multiple memorials to him. Spider-Man: Far From Home, the first MCU project to come out post-Endgame, focuses on Peter Parker and Happy Hogan, Tony’s assistant, grieving together over his death. At one point, Happy even smiles at Peter using Tony’s tech, thinking, no doubt, that Tony is living on in Peter. Later, the Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel shows Kamala Khan and her friend Bruno looking at a shrine to Tony and Natasha. In terms of MCU continuity, Tony is gone.

However, the multiverse opens up all kinds of possibilities. Thanks to the events of Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the barriers between different realities in the MCU are starting to break down, and alternate versions of some of our favorite characters have already shown up. Could Tony Stark return?

It’s certainly possible. In fact, before Multiverse of Madness came out, there were rumors that an alternate version of Tony Stark played by Tom Cruise would be making a cameo appearance. Those rumors didn’t pan out, though, and we have yet to see any new version of Tony Stark in the MCU.

But that doesn’t mean that we won’t get any more iron-clad goodness! Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), A.K.A. Ironheart, will be making her MCU debut in November 2022’s Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever before taking center stage in her own Disney Plus series in 2023. Riri will don an armored suit to fight baddies and continue Tony’s legacy.

(featured image: Marvel)