Just when you thought the constant cancel culture discourse couldn’t get any more ridiculous, #TonyIsOverParty was trending over the weekend. Why? Because The Falcon and the Winter Soldier revealed that Tony Stark didn’t pay the Avengers for the saving the world.
That was the least important takeaway from the scene in question, but social media was still populated by incredulous responses in the aftermath, which obviously led to calls to cancel the beloved and entirely fictional character who acted as the main drawing card and face of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe for over a decade.
Needless to say, some of the more level-headed Twitter users out there felt compelled to point out how inherently absurd the thought of lashing out at Robert Downey Jr.’s genius billionaire playboy philanthropist was, and you can check out a bunch of the reactions below.
https://twitter.com/hollandeceased/status/1373493463791112192
Marvel Stans trying to cancel Tony Stark is so funnny because he's:
1. Dead.
2. Fictional.— Cristina (@CrisseyPau) March 21, 2021
not you all trying to cancel mf Tony stark, Jesus take the wheel.
— Shay (@shayleighi) March 21, 2021
You see as the Pilot Episode of #FalconAndWinterSoldier rolls out, these feeling entitled wokes are trying to cancel Tony Stark out. Blaming him for not "giving salary" to the Avengers Members.
Forgetting that being a "hero" is doing something unappreciated/ unpaid.
— Charles Dirnt 🇻🇦🇵🇭 (@TheBoy_General) March 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/xhawksgf/status/1373388183367380992
Cancel culture is really going for tony stark??? Are you kidding me y’all mfs needa get out and see the sun
— Richard Torres (@lilchestdawg23) March 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/hmfaigen/status/1373301805124227080
Why are people trying to cancel Tony Stark for not "paying wages" when he's fuckin dead? Sam was dead for 5 years and before that he went on run with the guy who killed his parents. He was not obligated to pay their rent 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/7Snae5LjCS
— Adam Driver's Wife (@jodileighbee) March 20, 2021
Why is everybody trying to cancel #TonyStark when the #Avengers were Nicholas J Fury's super-secret boy band to begin with. If anybody owes Sam Wilson money, it's Fury.
— Tara O'Shea (@tara_oshea) March 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/jewwuu/status/1373188952052600832
The #MCU Fans are trying to cancel Tony Stark because he didn't pay the members of the Avengers even though.
1. He wasn't the leader, Cap was
2. He literally gave them all a home in a massive complex at Avengers HQ
3. He designs and builds their tech and weapon's.#WinterSoldier pic.twitter.com/doFaqaZRmC— Jolene Erswell (@JoleneErswrell) March 21, 2021
Completely ignoring the overzealous demands to throw Tony Stark on the cultural scrapheap to focus on the facts, he was never under any obligation to financially compensate his teammates. After all, he was neither their boss nor the leader of the Avengers, and he was kind enough to kit them all out in snazzy superhero costumes and provide them with a huge facility in which to live free of charge.
Having Tony pay them would also lead to some ethical questions that the MCU would rather do without, seeing as they’re all-powerful beings who operate without any sort of jurisdiction. Being under contract would give them the right and option to refuse getting their hands dirty if they didn’t feel the money was right, and it’s hard to imagine a world where the Avengers would decline to stop Thanos from wiping out half of the universe because the wages on offer weren’t to their liking.