Tony Stark Was An Adopted Child:
Avengers: Endgame brought so many story elements together, ended 3 phases, quite literally referenced past events by going back to the past, and actually set up certain future events through those past segments. Those past segments were actually a genius move. Out of almost every part of the time heist, we got something new that will come to fruition in the future. 2012 set up the Loki series, 2014 revealed Korbinites (possible origin for Beta Ray Bill) and the 1970s segment set up Captain Britain while it gave closure to Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.
Tony getting to see his father one more time was a really amazing part of his character development. He got to know how much his father loved him, and what’s crazy is that he actually gave his own father parenting advice. And after this particular segment, people actually started doubting whether Tony was adopted in the MCU or not. Yes, the entire scene referenced Tony Stark but there was a strange question that Tony asked.
As the scene goes by and Howard Stark mentions that his wife was expecting a baby, Tony asks him that when his wife was due. Well, this is an answer that Tony should actually know since he knew the exact point in time he had arrived, and he knew his own birth date. He was born in 1970 so asking that question felt weird to certain people in the audience. But the writers of the movie have cleared his doubt.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely talked about a bunch of things in the Avengers: Endgame audio commentary track, and they addressed this scene by saying that it was strange to see Tony offering his dad parenting advice. They continued saying it was kinda weird because Howard was worried about the “birth of the very same child” who is now giving him some parenting advice.
So, Tony Stark isn’t adopted. But it was fair for fans to think that he was because in the comics, Howard and Maria lost their son, Arno and ultimately ended up adopting Anthony “Tony” Stark. So, this could’ve been canon in the MCU as well, but it isn’t. We may have an answer to why Tony asked Howard when his wife was due. The answer is that he could’ve been making general conversation at that point of time. It is kinda normal to ask this so that’s what Tony did.
The whole scene was just awesome because Tony got to give his father a final hug which he couldn’t earlier, no thanks to Bucky. It made his upcoming ending even more satisfying as he got to live with his family, meet his father and ultimately make the big sacrifice to save the Universe. Nobody else has such a perfect story arc in the MCU.
Now, the future of MCU is going to become even more diverse, and thanks to Tony’s snap, other heroes will get a chance to shine and live their epic lives. Phases 4 & 5 will introduce a bunch of new characters like Blade, Captain Britain, Deadpool, the Fantastic Four & others.
Black Widow is going to kick off the future slate on May 1. Here’s how the rest of the Phase 4 slate looks like – The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021. Following these are Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk. Black Panther 2 has been scheduled for May 6, 2022.
