Robert Downey Jr. Is The Reason For The Avengers' Famous Shawarma Scene

The end-credits scenes have become something of a Marvel Cinematic Universe staple, but perhaps the greatest one of all came about because Robert Downey Jr., who plays Iron Man, thought a very basic line could use a little punching up. Downey was already comfortable advocating for himself and throwing out ideas. He even got the team behind the first "Iron Man" to let him sneak in a bit about a life-changing sandwich. So when it came to the final moment in the first big superhero team-up in the MCU, "The Avengers," the actor had some ideas about how he wanted things to go. 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the cast of "The Avengers" and its writer and director, Joss Whedon, revealed that Downey was the impetus for the movie's now-famous and much-beloved post-credits shawarma scene. The scene, which takes place after the final credits have rolled, shows the Avengers going to town on a delicious Middle Eastern meal, making them all suddenly much more relatable. Who among us has not silently stuffed their face among exhausted compatriots, either after a hard day at work or a few hours in a mosh pit? If anything can make superheroes feel more human, it's seeing them bone-tired and chowing down. 

The final moment in the original script for "The Avengers" had Downey's Tony Stark waking up and asking "What's next?," but Downey thought there should be more to it to give the audience a sense of closure. He asked for more and Whedon obliged, turning one line into three pages of potential lines. A joke about getting some shawarma before getting back to work, inspired by both Whedon's apparent longtime love of shawarma and a particularly rough day of shooting "Angel," the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off series. Actor Alexis Denisof told EW that after filming the season 5 episode "A Hole in the World," the cast and crew all went out for drinks and sat around in exhausted silence, which directly led to the Avengers having their own moment of delicious downtime. 

Ironically, the scene was filmed after the film first premiered but before it went into wide release when the cast playing the Avengers probably felt just as tired and worn out as their superhero counterparts. Some had even already started new projects, like Chris Evans, who had to hide his "Snowpiercer" beard beneath an awkward prosthetic that he kept partially covered with his hand. Along with Thor's Chris Hemsworth actually eating on-camera, there's a level of authenticity that makes them all feel more lovable.

Hemsworth told EW that he really went for it, eating a pita each take. By the end, he "thought [he] might be sick" from eating so many pitas, but it's all in the name of art, right? It could always be worse, too, like poor John Cena eating 36 empanadas on the set of "The Suicide Squad." Maybe they could start a band (or a support group) called "Seriously Stuffed Superheroes" or something, and learn that it's okay to pretend to eat instead of making themselves sick. 

One good thing did come about from the Avengers dining on some shawarma, as sales of the food apparently increased after the movie's release. Some folks in middle America may have never even heard about shawarma before, so if "The Avengers" got them to go out and try more, different food, then it did a very good thing. Shawarma is top-tier, and "The Avengers" helped introduce it to a whole new crowd in a hilarious, ultimately relatable way.