Spoilers inbound.
Last chance to turn back.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Okay, here we go.
So, Avengers: Endgame. Whew, so many great moments, like the entire second act where the Avengers go all Back To The Future to the small but history-making introduction of Marvel’s first ever openly gay character. And of course, who can forget the “she’s got help” scene that comes up in the middle of the epic final battle?
But we need to tackle one big question in Endgame that’ll almost certainly confuse a few people – who is that mysterious teenager standing by himself at Tony Stark‘s funeral at the end?
Well folks, you’ve actually met this teenager before and he’s going to play a very important part in Marvel and Iron Man’s future. That’s because he’s this kid:
Stop trying to guilt-trip us, kid.
That’s right, the teenager at Tony’s funeral is Harley Keener, his now-grown up sidekick from Iron Man 3.
Their little mentor-protege relationship was one of the bright spots in Iron Man 3 and Harley’s quick appearance at the end of Endgame suggests that he and Tony have kept up their friendship over the years. It also suggests that he’s going to be very important for the future of Marvel and the Iron Man character.
Since Tony is, well, dead and Marvel would be nuts to retire the Iron Man character, a replacement would be the best option and there’s no better option than teenage Harley right here. Hear us out here.
It’s established that Tony and Harley are incredibly similar as they’re both genius whiz kids with deep-rooted issues with their dads. With Tony gone, who better to leave the suits of Iron Man armour to than Harley? And besides, he’s all grown up now and can actually, you know, fit into the armour properly.
Yeah, he is actually, as well as an Iron Man suit.
By doing this, Marvel will essentially reboot Iron Man without technically rebooting him. Plus, there are endless comedic and dramatic possibilities of telling a new Iron Man origin story with Harley in the suit.
There’s the potential for a new mentor story between Harley and Pepper Potts (who got to kick ass in her own suit of Iron Man armour in Endgame), as well as a heartwarming pseudo-sibling tale between Harley and Morgan, Tony’s infant daughter.
But the one with most potential is a possible rivalry between Harley and Peter Parker, who has also become Tony’s other protege over the last few years. A buddy comedy adventure starring a teenage Iron Man and teenage Spider-man, both of whom have a strong relationship with Tony Stark? Hell yeah.
I imagine there will be a lot fewer hugs between Peter and Harley.
Tony Stark may be gone from the MCU but it doesn’t mean Iron Man is as well and the possibility of seeing Harley Keener in the armour as Tony’s successor is quite the exciting prospect. Who knows, maybe Harley could make his big Iron Man debut in a post-credit appearance in Spider-man: Far From Home. Now that would be awesome.