Iron Man and Captain America were established as the heart and soul of the Marvel Cinematic Universe throughout the Infinity Saga, with their arcs mirroring each other in many ways despite the obvious personality differences between the two. The events of Civil War created a rift between them that looked like it may never be healed, as both men stuck defiantly to their guns and fought for the cause they believed was the right one.
However, when a giant purple alien enters the picture and decides to wipe out half of all living things in the universe with a snap of his fingers, then it’s probably time to let bygones be bygones. After initially turning down the invitation to rejoin the Avengers when we first encounter him in Endgame, Tony eventually relents after figuring out time travel, and it isn’t surprising that Steve Rogers is the first person he encounters.
In a recent watch party for Endgame hosted by the Russo brothers, Robert Downey Jr. dropped by for a surprise appearance to give his thoughts on the movie, and went on to explain why the reconciliation between Tony and Steve ran much deeper than the former handing Cap his iconic shield as a figurative olive branch.
“It was all about him forgiving me for not forgiving him, so we can start getting ready to, who knows you know, maybe throw in the towel for whatever we’ve got to do. It wasn’t just the idea of burying the hatchet, it was burying the hatchet and taking up the cross together.”
At the time, many fans were wondering why the two put their differences aside so quickly, negating one of the major story points from Civil War. Downey Jr.’s explanation goes a long way to explaining it though, in that by making peace with each other in order to combat a seemingly unstoppable threat, any bad blood had to be put on the back-burner for the greater good, because there was little chance of both of them making it out of Avengers: Endgame alive. Which, as we all know, turned out to be exactly the case.
