Tony Stark reunites with Steve Rogers in the latest Avengers: Endgame teaser

Ticket sales for Avengers: Endgame have officially begun, and Marvel used that opportunity to show off a super stressful teaser trailer featuring Tony Stark that already has us in tears.

Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) has been a staple in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the very beginning. That’s no accident.

The original Iron Man film launched the MCU way back in 2008. Robert Downey Jr. and his character have therefore been around the longest, despite Captain America technically being the first Avenger. It would make sense that this character would also be the first to bow out in a very big way.

Along with the ticket sales announcement today, Marvel released a short special look teaser that really zeroed in on one character in particular: Tony Stark. Again, this was no accident.

Most of the voiceover in this teaser comes from Tony, which likely means he’s going to be the one to talk the rest of what’s left of the team into confronting Thanos one last time. But that’s not all the Tony we get in 60 seconds.

We see him reuniting with Pepper, who he hadn’t seen since his walk in the park before the snap in Infinity War. Then, we see Tony and Steve shaking hands — a truce, if not a full-fledged “I forgive you for turning my friends against me and beating me up, bro.” (You know, because of everything that went down in Captain America: Civil War.) And then, there’s the most heartbreaking moment: Tony gazing down at a photo with him and a now snapped-away Peter Parker.

Most importantly, we see him confronting his greatest enemy of all: Not just the film franchise’s Big Bad in the flesh (again), but also the possibility of totally messing everything up (again).

That’s a lot to take in in just one minute. Let’s take a look at that last shot.

The final shot of the teaser shows Tony coming face-to-face with Thanos as the villain completes the final line: “Where did that bring you? Back to me.”

That’s an epic boss battle waiting to happen. It’s a good thing this film’s runtime pushes three hours, because we’re going to need a lot of time to process however this fight is going to end.

Will there be tears? Oh, most definitely. Especially if the theories about Tony Stark’s future are true. Dr. Strange did establish back in Infinity War that there is only one way for the Avengers to beat Thanos. This “one way” could mean a sacrifice… of the Stark variety.

Will Tony survive Endgame? It’s not looking like it — especially after this particular cut of the film. Why focus on Tony if he was going to live through the events of the film?

Real-world events also make it hard to believe our original hero will pull through. Gwyneth Paltrow, whose character, Pepper, was critical to Tony’s development throughout the Iron Man films, officially announced she’d be leaving the MCU.

Rumors have also surfaced that Robert Downey Jr. is done playing the character, though he hasn’t officially confirmed this himself. It wouldn’t surprise anyone at this point, though, considering he has been the face of Iron Man for over 10 years. All good things must come to an end, especially at the height of their prime.

Tony’s death would also give Peter Parker another motivation to up his Spidey game in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which occurs after the events of this film. What happens when your mentor falls at the hands of evil? You suit up and do what you can to avenge them.

As devastating as beloved character deaths are, when they actually continue to drive the plot forward, fans tend to get over the heartbreak. As much as you can, anyway, when your favorite superhero — or the man behind the mask, at least — is no more.

Avengers: Endgame tickets are now on sale. The film releases everywhere on April 26.