Avengers 4: New report might mean more emotional pain for Iron Man

With all eyes on Atlanta, is it any wonder that the reports are flying fast and furious about who’s worked on Avengers 4? However, there’s one surprise.

Note: Do you want to go into Avengers 4 ready to have your soul crushed without much warning as to how the crushing might be done? Because this might ruin that experience (a little).

After “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good,” it seemed as though the Marvel Cinematic Universe had found the very best way to destroy both Tony Stark and fans’ hearts in one go. But that was Avengers: Infinity War, and now we’re in Avengers 4 territory. How do you one-up Tony losing a kid he’s come to care for?

According to a new report from That Hashtag Show, the answer is by letting Tony speak to his long-dead father. That Hashtag Show, citing a source, reports that Robert Downey Jr. has filmed scenes with John Slattery, who’s played Howard Stark before. It’s unclear whether or not these happened recently during the reshoots or during principal photography.

As That Hashtag Show writes it, it’s not clear if that’s due to Tony using technology or actually going back into the past, but it does seem like it would make sense for the character. We’ll agree on the latter point, and take a stab that it’s not just tech that Tony uses. With set photos from the initial shoot heavily suggesting the Battle of New York, it seems like the Avengers might be looking for any clue or advantage they can find over Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet.

Beyond that, though, it might be a good way to wrap up any lingering father issues that Tony might still have, since this might be his last hurrah in the MCU as a whole. With Pepper Potts making an appearance in Infinity War, that’s one part of Tony’s emotional storyline that’s closer to being finished. Since he understands the danger of fighting Thanos, if he has the opportunity to see his father again, he may just take it, especially since he might not be able to undo that loss as he may be able to undo Peter Parker’s.

We don’t think that he’d try and save his parents, though That Hashtag Show puts that forward as speculation. It’s too much of an alteration to the timeline and one that doesn’t have an understandable effect. Leave the over-emotional antics that ruin everything to Star-Lord, please.

It’s important to note that while That Hashtag Show claims its source is reliable, this is still just a rumor (probably until we see the movie or get confirmation from one of the actors involved).