David Harbour Says He Really Didn't Drop a Big Avengers: Doomsday Spoiler

Warning! Spoilers (maybe? We’re not entirely sure) for Avengers: Doomsday follow:

In August, David Harbour appeared to drop a major Avengers: Doomsday spoiler by revealing a line he says in the movie: “You… are Tony Stark,” in the Russian accent of his Red Guardian character.

You can see why this would be considered a huge deal: it suggested that the inevitable reveal of Doctor Doom sharing a face with the MCU’s Tony Stark would occur in Avengers: Doomsday, and that Red Guardian would be present for it. It would also have been a neat riff on Robert Downey Jr.’s iconic “I am Iron Man” line — his final words as Tony Stark in the MCU to date.

Harbour’s comment was reported on by Variety, who’d asked him to recite a line from Avengers: Doomsday “completely out of context.”

Here’s the line from Variety:

He offers a deadpan line in a Russian accent (and pointing): “You … are Tony Stark.”

Fast forward a couple months, and Harbour is denying he ever said that at all. In an interview with ScreenRant, Harbour said it was entirely made up, then proceeded to say a line he promised he actually says in the movie instead.

Here’s exactly what Harbour told ScreenRant:

“Did I say that I said that? No, I think you guys make this stuff up. The guy asked me for a line from Avengers: Doomsday, and my line was, ‘Five, four, three, two, [one].’ That’s my line that I gave him. I don’t know about the Tony Stark thing.

“Wyatt Russell (John Walker) sent me an article like, ‘David Harbour just ruined the movie.’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ So, I don’t know. I don’t think I said that. If I did, I’m sorry. I don’t say that in the movie.

“I do say, ‘Five, four, three, two, one,’ though. That’s a big spoiler. I count down from five at one point during the movie, and something very important happens.”

So, what to make of this? Variety’s article is still online. Taking the article and Harbour’s new comments together, I think he might have been talking about another character (not Red Guardian) saying, “You … are Tony Stark,” in Doomsday. So, maybe the spoiler really was a spoiler, just not said by Red Guardian. Or no-one says it at all!

Harbour then confirms he counts down to something in Doomsday. It’s hard to speculate on what this is, although Harbour says after he counts down “something very important happens.” Maybe something blows up?

Ultimately, the face underneath Doom’s mask will be revealed. Whether that’s in Doomsday or next year’s Secret Wars, it will happen. And then the heroes will be incredibly shocked to see that is in fact Tony Stark’s face, and working out how to explain and deal with that will be a whole thing. I find it hard to believe that Red Guardian will be the character to react to this first. For me, it would have to be one of the main Avengers characters, perhaps Steve Rogers, Thor, or Bruce Banner. It would be fun for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to see his mentor Tony Stark somehow the face behind the mask, too.

Last month, directors Joe and Anthony Russo said Marvel fans need to prepare for “a very surprising ending” to Avengers: Doomsday. Speaking to Fandango, Anthony Russo described the upcoming Marvel blockbuster as a “focused propulsive narrative,” while still weighing in as one of the studio’s longest films to date.

As you might expect from a movie with such a large cast, Avengers: Doomsday will clock in around the “two-and-half hour” mark, though even the Russos are unlikely to know the exact runtime just yet as reshoots were believed to be taking place only this month to add even more material.

As for how it all concludes — and leads into next year’s climactic Avengers: Secret Wars — the Russo brothers had this to say:

“I think people are going to be surprised,” Joe Russo teased. “It’s a very surprising ending. It’s a very surprising movie and that’s all we’ll say about it.”