The Multiversal Perspective
Kang the Conqueror's MCU appearances have given Doctor Strange’s tragic plans for Iron Man in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame a deeper meaning.
Robert Downey Jr Iron Man Jonathan Majors Kang
Avengers: Endgame opened the gates for the MCU’s multiverse with the Avengers’ discovery of time travel, which is closely intertwined with concepts such as alternate realities, infinite possibilities, and fate - all of which provide a new perspective on new and old MCU events.
Doctor strange 2 iron man death avengers endgame
Just a few years and a few Multiverse Saga installments later, multiversal travel is commonplace across the whole franchise, confirming that the MCU’s main timeline is but one of infinite ways the events from every MCU movie and show could have unfolded.
Loki Season 2's Sacred Timeline in the shape of a Multiversal Yggdrasil
Some MCU events seem more avoidable than others. For instance, Iron Man’s death in Avengers: Endgame seems to be an “absolute point” - a moment in time that can’t be avoided by any means - as Doctor Strange looked into the future and saw 14,000,604 scenarios where Tony Stark’s death and the Avengers’ victory against Thanos were mutually exclusive.
Custom image of Iron Man's snap and death in Avengers: Endgame.
Kang's Variants and the Sacred Timeline
Loki seasons 1 and 2 revealed that the MCU multiverse isn’t fully guided by free will, as He Who Remains and many of his Kang variants joined forces to create a Sacred Timeline, where all events lead to the outcome that allowed their peaceful existence.
Iron Man’s sacrifice may have been brave, and Doctor Strange’s decision to sacrifice Iron Man may have been wise, but He Who Remains also ensured no other scenario could have happened instead.
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Just like the Avengers relied on previous landmarks in the MCU timeline to retrieve the Infinity Stones, He Who Remains and the TVA likely relied on unavoidable events like Iron Man’s death to protect the Sacred Timeline‘s equilibrium.
Iron Man and the Nuclear Bomb in The Avengers
The Immutable Fate of Iron Man
The Sacred Timeline’s immutable nature cements Iron Man’s tragic fate, at least in the MCU’s Earth-616.
Iron Man vs Captain America in the MCU's Civil War Poster
Everything Tony Stark did in the MCU up until his death was bound to happen, even if it seemed like he had alternatives, from the near-death experience that motivated him to become Iron Man to Ultron’s creation in Avengers: Age of Ultron and the Avengers’ split in Captain America: Civil War.
Stark’s near-death experience in 2012 instilled in his mind the idea that a bigger threat was approaching. Once he got word of Thanos' quest to gather the Infinity Stones, he knew that the Mad Titan signified the end of his own journey and the pending debt he had to pay for surviving the explosion that almost killed him.
