Iron Man and Captain America might be staunch allies on the battlefield, but they’ve always had differing methods on how best to protect the world. The most obvious example of this is Captain America: Civil War, in which the pair take opposing sides on the Sokovia Accords conflict. Tony Stark’s decision to create Ultron is another issue that drove a wedge between the two heroes though and in this case, Avengers: Endgame directors Anthony and Joe Russo think Stark was in the right.
If you remember, Avengers: Age of Ultron sees Tony designing Ultron as a response to the invasion of New York in The Avengers – something to protect the planet if another extraterrestrial incursion occurs. Unfortunately, Ultron turned out to be a world-conquering maniac but hey, at least Iron Man’s heart was in the right place.
Speaking to Slate, Joe Russo talked about how Tony “was not wrong” in Ultron, as the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame prove his fears correct.
“He was not wrong that there was a great threat coming, and they needed to build a suit of armor around the world. And at what point do civil liberties trump—no pun intended—do civil liberties come before the government’s ability to protect its citizens?”
Russo continued by saying, though it may seem like both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers made mistakes along the way, they may have had to make these choices to eventually beat Thanos.
“I think what’s interesting is that to some extent, they had to go through this. There was a sense of destiny to this. They had to go through it to win it. And in a way both he and Cap were right.”
This ties into Doctor Strange’s prediction of 14 billion futures in Infinity War, with the one that plays out in Avengers: Endgame being the only timeline in which the heroes won. Apparently, then, we can thank Tony for building a crazy robot and playing his part in the grand tapestry of the MCU.
