Does Pepper Potts’ exit from MCU mean Tony Stark will die in Avengers Endgame?

Now, it seems, we have to bid good bye to Pepper. She was not only Tony Stark’s love-interest, she was also the one who humanised him and made him look relatable.

If she is jumping the ship, does that mean it is the end of the road for Tony Stark as well? Downey Jr’s contract does come to an end with Avengers: Endgame, but that can be renewed. But will it, though?

Tony has been the de facto main character in the MCU ever since he first donned the first Iron Man suit. The last Avengers film, Infinity War, managed to surprise everybody when it was the newer and mostly younger superheroes who perished as part of what is now officially called the Decimation — the destruction of half the universe after Thanos snapped his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet studded with all the six Infinity Stones. Most people had expected it would be the old guard — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America et al — that would either sacrifice themselves or will be killed by Thanos and his Black Order.

But the supposed “death” of the characters (along with half of universe’s life) may not be as permanent as we thought. A lot of evidence has emerged showing that they are not dead but merely trapped in another reality — perhaps the one inside the Soul Stone.

And who are we kidding? Why would Disney abandon insanely profitable properties like Black Panther? So we can assume that most, if not all, of the “dead” superheroes will come to life again. And the makers have said Endgame is going to be even more tragic. This can only mean one thing — one if not all the old guard will perish/sacrifice/die in the film. Does that include Tony?

With what we have been told about Captain Marvel, she is a born leader and a powerful and confident cosmic superhero. It is simply hard to imagine Avengers with both she and Tony in it. Big egos have big clashes. Chances are the future of Avengers belongs to Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and so on, and not the ones we saw in 2012’s The Avengers.

All this does suggest that Tony Stark is going to meet his end in Avengers: Endgame. But knowing what Marvel did with Infinity War, we better brace ourselves for a surprise.

Avengers: Endgame releases on April 26.