The relationship between Peter Parker and Tony Stark was one of the undoubted highlights of the web-slinger’s early days as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even after his mentor made the ultimate sacrifice play at the end of Avengers: Endgame, his shadow continued to loom large over Spider-Man in his solo sequel Far From Home.
Stars Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr.’s off-screen friendship mirrors that of their superhero counterparts, with the young actor admitting that he can always turn to his esteemed former colleague for advice. It remains to be seen if we’ll ever see them reunited in the MCU, but a new theory claims that their connection was the key to bringing Tony’s decade-long story arc to a satisfying conclusion.
You see, constantly keeping an eye on his over-eager young protege taught Tony how to act as a father figure, which had a huge bearing on where we found him following Endgame‘s five-year time jump, and also allowed him to connect with his own father after he made a point of putting their dysfunctional dynamic behind him and making amends when he interacted with Howard during the time heist.
Tony also viewed Peter’s death in Infinity War as his single greatest failure, and the chance to rectify that mistake was what convinced him to crack the formula for time travel and attempt to put things right in order to undo the damage done by Thanos, despite initially refusing because he didn’t want to lose the family life he never thought he would have.
When Peter appeared on the scene, Tony had separated from Pepper and disbanded the Avengers following the events of Civil War, and his connection to Spider-Man gave him a renewed sense of purpose while also greatly informing the direction of both characters right up until the end of the Infinity Saga. Iron Man would likely have still been the one to save the universe in the end, but the emotional context makes it all the more powerful when he gives up his life to protect everyone else in Avengers: Endgame.
