Anna Daniels
Before the events of Thor: Ragnorak, Asgard was as great a place as any to escape to. But Thor and Tony’s arrival to the realm in Avengers: Endgame wouldn’t have been for some R&R, no matter how badly needed. “We had a sequence where Tony and Thor went to Asgard because technically there were two [Infinity] Stones there,” McFeely explained. “Tony, in an invisible stealth suit, fought Heimdall.”
For fans who don’t remember, there was a point where a pair of Infinity Stones resided on Asgard before it was determined that hiding both there was too dangerous.
The first was the Reality Stone, once wielded by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) at the start of Thor: The Dark World (the MCU film Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins almost directed). Leader of the Dark Elves — villains who almost appeared in Avengers: Endgame — Malekith tried using the Reality Stone to force the universe into a state of eternal darkness before Thor stopped him. At the end of Dark World, the Asgardians handed the Reality Stone over to The Collector (Benicio Del Toro).
The second gem on Asgard was the Space Stone, which the Asgardians had encased in a vessel known as the Tesseract. They somehow left it on Earth, where it was eventually acquired by Thor’s adopted brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) at Thanos’ bidding in The Avengers. After the Battle of New York, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) tasked Heimdall with keeping it safe.
It appears that the Avengers: Endgame writing team had considered sending Thor and Iron Man back through time to retrieve both stones while they were on Asgard at the same time. And because of Heimdall’s “all-knowing” powers, invisible stealth would have been required to successfully grab the Space Stone, though it probably wasn’t as fool-proof as Tony would have liked.
Audiences will never get to see this fight scene between Iron Man and Heimdall, but, like McFeely said, its lack of emotional resonance far outweighed its coolness. Can’t argue with that.
Written by: Looper
