Endgame Directors Have Dark Explanation for Iron Man & Loki MCU Deaths

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Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo give a dark explanation for the deaths of Loki and Iron Man in the MCU. The Russo Brothers first entered the MCU withCaptain America: The Winter Soldier and then the follow-up, Captain America: Civil War. The success of those two films, particularly with the massive ensemble cast of Civil War, led to them taking on both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the latter of which became the most successful MCU movie to date and the second-highest grossing movie of all time.

The opening of Avengers: Infinity War had Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Tom Hiddleston's Loki squaring off with Thanos, who ended up killing Loki (as well as Heimdall and a vast number of Asgardians), leaving Thor vowing revenge for the murder of his half brother. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Iron Man/Tony Stark, as played by Robert Downey Jr., gave the ultimate sacrifice by stealing the Infinity Stones away from Thanos and «snapping» him and his army to dust, before dying himself. Both Iron Man and Loki's deaths were controversial in that they both served a purpose in the story, but left many fans distraught over their loss.

Related: Loki Shows MCU Loki Was Never Truly Redeemed (Not Even After Death)

While doing promotional rounds (via Wired) for their latest film, Netflix's The Gray Man, the Russo Brothers addressed the death of the God of Mischief and Stark, giving a comically dark response. When posed with the question of why they killed off Loki, Joe Russo dryly says, «He deserved to die. That's all we're saying about that.» When posed with the same question, but for Stark, Joe Russo reiterates the same reason that they killed off Loki, saying, «He deserved to die.» The Russo Brothers seem