The Sopranos creator David Chase all but confirms Tony’s ultimate fate

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Don't Stop Believin'

The Sopranos finale
(Image credit: HBO)

For over a decade, The Sopranos fans have pored over the show's very final scene in the hopes of answering one definitive question: did Tony get whacked?

We might finally have an answer – of sorts – thanks to The Sopranos creator David Chase, who was surprisingly candid about his ultimate plans for James Gandolfini’s mobster in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Chase, it seems, always had plans for Tony to die – including an alternate ending.

"I had a scene in which Tony comes back from a meeting in New York in his car. At the beginning of every show, he came from New York into New Jersey, and the last scene could be him coming from New Jersey back into New York for a meeting at which he was going to be killed," Chase revealed.

"I was driving on Ocean Park Boulevard near the airport and I saw a little restaurant. It was kind of like a shack that served breakfast. And for some reason I thought, ‘Tony should get it in a place like that.’ Why? I don’t know."

While Chase hasn’t outright said that Tony is dead – and likely never will – his words are about as close as we’ll ever get to finding out what happened after Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ stopped and the show cut to black as Tony looked up in the diner.

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.