In last year’s Avengers: Endgame, during the funeral of Tony Stark, there’s a moment where Happy Hogan asks the young Morgan if she’s hungry. Tony’s daughter then replies that she wants cheeseburgers, prompting Happy to reminisce about her dad’s similar taste in fast food.
In its own way, this exchange helps bring Robert Downey Jr.’s eleven-year run in the MCU full circle, referencing a moment in 2008’s Iron Man that held some personal significance for the Hollywood A-lister.
After escaping captivity in his MCU debut, Tony requests two things upon returning to the US: a press conference and an “American cheeseburger.” Sure enough, we then see Tony Stark stepping out of his limo as he finishes off a meal from Burger King.
Yes, it’s an obvious case of product placement, but the moment was also intended as an acknowledgment of the role played by Burger King in helping Downey to overcome his struggles with addiction.
In interviews, the actor has recalled how he once visited a Burger King, and found the burger he ordered to be so disgusting that he started pondering his life choices. He then reportedly threw all of the drugs in his car into the ocean, before later going into rehab. The star has been sober since 2003.
Though the story doesn’t exactly place Burger King’s food in the most flattering light, Downey has said that the “American cheeseburger” scene in Iron Man was meant as a special tribute to the company for helping him to get his life back on track.
Jump to the present day, and Downey looks to be more or less done with the role that’s dominated his career for the past twelve years, but if recent reports on the upcoming Black Widow movie have it right, then Tony may still have at least one more MCU appearance left to go.