One of Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) ironic lines in the first Iron Man movie correctly predicts Captain America’s (Chris Evans’) greatest fear.
A line from the first Iron Man correctly predicts Captain America’s (Steve Rogers) greatest fear. Directed by Jon Favreau, the 2008 blockbuster introduced Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and laid the groundwork for the MCU. While much of Iron Man’s subsequent arc leading up to his announced death in Avengers: Endgame, one particular bit of dialogue from its titular character foreshadowed the one thing Steve Rogers dreaded.
During the events of Iron Man, Steve was still frozen in ice, as it would only be a few years before he was found and awakened in modern times. So at this point, Tony has no knowledge of the Star-Spangled Avenger other than public information and what he learned from his father, Howard Stark (John Slattery) during their collaboration in WWII. Tony and Steve’s first meeting took place aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier in the middle of The Avengers. Despite this, the genius billionaire was able to accidentally predict what would later turn out to be Captain America’s worst fear.
the original Iron Man The film starring Robert Downey Jr. opened with Tony’s road trip to Afghanistan as he traveled to inaugurate his new creation – the Jericho missile. During his drive with soldiers just before they were ambushed, a soldier asked for a photo. He complied but made a joke about the peace sign the serviceman made, saying: “Peace. I love peace. I would be out of work with peace.” At this point, that rang partially true; after all, he is an arms dealer. But after his kidnapping, he had no problem shutting down their weapons department, concentrating on other branches of their business. Instead, this particular line applies more to Steve, who is a soldier of war. While Captain America was all for a conflict-free world, he knew nothing but to enforce peace. So if it comes naturally, he’s the one who would be unemployed.
Incidentally, Steve having this flawed flaw and fear was confirmed in Avengers: Age of Ultron. During the team’s mission to Johannesburg to confront Ultron (James Spader), nearly every hero was hypnotized by Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). As seen previously with Tony in Sokovia, Wanda Maximoff’s fate showed them the things they were most afraid of. For Captain America, it’s going back to the 1940s and learning that the war is over. Interestingly, that didn’t seem like a bad thing, especially since it meant he and Peggy (Hayley Atwell) could finally be together. But it actually revealed that Steve was afraid of being useless in times of peace. As the Star-Spangled Avenger was created to be a soldier during the height of World War II, he had acted as a protector of the oppressed and an enforcer of justice. But all of that would go away if there were no imminent threat to the public.
Given all of this, it’s curious how Steve lived a quiet life in retirement at the end of Avengers: Endgame. Maybe at that moment he realized that he had done his part to ensure the peace of the universe and it was time for him to put himself first. Still, given their difference in background and behavior, it’s interesting that Tony’s line of Iron Man which was supposed to be about him turned out to be more applicable to Captain America.
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