Despite assembling a rather massive superhero ensemble, Avengers: Endgame was still, without a doubt, Tony Stark’s swan song. He was the one who started it all over a decade ago and in the aforementioned sequel, he was given a more than adequate send off, eliminating Thanos from existence with a snap that also took his own life.
But before that happened, we got to see Stark travel back in time to retrieve one of the Infinity Stones, where he ran into a younger version of his father (played once again by John Slattery). And in the brief time they spent together, they had the chance to chat about the child that Howard’s expecting.
It was a nice little exchange, for sure, but it did get fans speculating that perhaps Tony was adopted. Why, you ask? Well, when Howard says he’s bringing gifts to his wife who’s pregnant, Robert Downey Jr.’s fan favorite hero reacts a bit strangely, asking his dad when she’s due – which he would obviously know the answer to.
Couple that with the fact that in the comics, it’s revealed that Howard and Maria lost their son, Arno, and ended up adopting Tony, and it’s easy to see why a lot of people thought the same was true of the MCU version of the character as well. But it seems that’s not the case.
During a commentary track on the Avengers: Endgame Blu-ray, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely addressed the scene and noted that it was strange to see Tony offering his dad parenting advice, and that it was especially odd seeing as Howard was so worried about the birth of the very same son who ends up giving him tips for raising him, thus debunking the theory that the MCU’s Tony is adopted.
Tell us, though, would you have preferred for the franchise to head down the same route as the comics, or are you happy that they kept Tony as Howard and Maria’s real son? Let us know what you think down below.
