The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a very beautiful arc of progression from its very first and iconic moment that instilled Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man to the Battle of Earth to Steve finally making it to the date he promised to Peggy for which he was 100 years too late. But none of that could account for the adorably innocent and out-of-the-blue utterance of the quantifiable amount of love that spilled from Lexi Rabe’s Morgan to RDJ’s Tony Stark.
The fandom has still not gotten over the fact that a phrase as simple as “I love you 3,000” could crush and devastate so many hearts in so many different ways and as it so happens, the saying turns out to be an excerpt from a reality that already existed in Robert Downey Jr.’s world.
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
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Robert Downey Jr. Tells the Story Behind “I love you 3,000”
On the first anniversary of the global sensational phenomenon, Avengers: Endgame, Robert Downey Jr. appeared on Instagram Live with director Joe Russo to address Marvel fans after a viewing party held by Comicbook in 2020. It was during this session that the duo divulged the tale behind the phrase’s iconic origin. To most people’s surprise (and delight), the expression of quantifiable love (which to a child feels infinite) originated in the home of Marvel’s very own godfather, Robert Downey Jr.
RDJ’s Tony Stark shares an iconic moment with his on-screen daughter
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At the Live session via Instagram, RDJ claimed:
“It was something that I think Exton, my now-8-year-old, used to say to me, and a lot of kids say, you know? It’s before they can quantify love they just think of the biggest number they know, and it’s usually like 2,000 or 3,000, whatever, and it turned out to be really significant. But all the stuff in this movie was about us really starting to bring our own experience into these characters.”
Lexi Rabe
Joe Russo added how emotion played a vital role in creating the most authentic story in the saga’s epic finale. Avengers: Endgame was the fourth and final MCU film helmed by the Russo Brothers and as such, they claimed to feel an “emotional ownership” over the property after a decade of watching the cinematic universe growing to its full potential under the fandom’s collective care.
Avengers: Endgame Writers Elaborate on the Iconic Phrase
To screenwriters, last-minute edits aren’t really a thing of caution as a creative project usually always comes under the supervisory eyes and constant purview of the director, the actors, and the editors connected with the work. So, when Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely managed to pen the Endgame script, they thought of every nostalgic throwback to hard-hitting comebacks but did not come up with the most real and emotionally vulnerable line of the script that would be impactful enough to break the fans’ hearts years (and perhaps even decades) down the line.
RDJ in Avengers: Endgame
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At a Marvel event in New York City, the screenwriters elaborated on how the change was embedded into the script after Robert Downey Jr. shared the story of Exton (his son) admitting his quantified-yet-infinite love with the Russos – and the directors, finding the story to be extraordinary and amazing, decided to imprint their final chapter with the same emotion as well.
Avengers: Endgame is available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: Comicbook.com
