Avengers: Infinity War was released in 2018 and set the stage for the Infinity Saga's epic conclusion in Avengers: Endgame. By making Thanos the movie's lead, it became an MCU blockbuster like no other, especially as it ended with the heroes losing.
By the time the credits rolled, the Mad Titan had successfully snapped half of the universe out of existence. Along the way, fans were treated to all manner of team-ups, surprise cameos, and shocking farewells.
In a new interview looking back at Avengers: Infinity War, Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. and co-director Joe Russo revealed that two cameos were cut from when we first caught up with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts on Earth.
"We had a Happy Hogan cameo in this scene that we reshot, then we 86'd it," Downey revealed, confirming that Jon Favreau was ultimately left on the cutting room floor. Russo then chimed in, revealing that he played a member of the paparazzi who chased Tony and Pepper through Central Park before presumably being chased off by Happy.
Tony's bodyguard returned in Avengers: Endgame when he comforted Morgan Stark at his old boss's funeral. As for Joe, he made a poorly received cameo in the 2019 blockbuster as the gay leader of a post-Blip support group.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Russo touched on following his and Anthony's previous Avengers movies with Doomsday and Secret Wars.
"These have obviously been harder than the other ones for that reason, right? As the stakes keep going up. But emotional complexity is always the answer," the filmmaker shared. "You bring emotional complexity to anything, and it enriches it and makes it a fuller experience for the audience. It surprises you."
"There are a lot of surprises in this, and I think it’s the most emotionally complex of all of them. In a lot of ways, the most mature of all of them," Russo continued. "We’ve been very fortunate enough, as collaborators, Robert and I, to be able to do this over and over again. And knock on wood, we can do it two more times."
Downey, meanwhile, mentioned that he got to hear composer Alan Silvestri's Doctor Doom theme on the fourth day of production. That had an impact on how he approached the villain, and he used the music to help him maintain Victor Von Doom's point of view.
You can hear more from Downey and Russo on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Doomsday in the player below.