Watch This Spoiler Filled, Freewheeling Conversation With Avengers: Infinity War‘s Screenwriters
If you’ve somehow still not seen Avengers: Infinity War, the title of this piece tells you that you do not belong here.
For the rest of you, this 45-minute interview Collider conducted with Infinity War screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will likely answer a ton of your questions, as well as ones you never thought to ask. For example, was Hawkeye ever involved in the first part of Infinity War? (Answer: No, but you’ll likely be seeing him in Avengers 4). How did they set about writing this massive, two-part epic, front to back, one part at a time? (Very carefully). Which of Thor’s weapons is more powerful, Stormbreaker or Mjolnir? Another pertinent question—what does millions of fan’s tears taste like?
To that last question, it’s very interesting to hear how Markus and McFeely felt about the fan reactions to the film’s now famously somber end. Thanos (Josh Brolin) waging a victorious war against humanity—and in the process, laying waste to a shocking number of Marvel’s biggest heroes—was something Markus and McFeely had worked out a long time ago. The overwhelming sadness and surprise of fans, while precisely what they had anticipated, still affected them because they had been living with that ending for so long and had grown used to the idea. It was almost like they needed that visceral reaction to remind them, ah, yes, it is upsetting to see Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and nearly every member of the Guardians of the Galaxy perish.
Another intriguing exchange concerns that last image of the movie, a kind of inverse of the weary but victorious hero finally being able to settle down, but in this case, that hero is the homicidal super villain. That image of Thanos looking at the sunset after a hideous job well done (before the wild post-credits scene that hints at you-know-who) actually comes from the comics, written by Jim Starlin. It’s the end of the “Infinity Gauntlet” storyline in which the Mad Titan looks out over the sunset after having lost the weapon that gave him ultimate power. In Infinity War, Markus and McFeely recreated that moment, with Thanos resting on some alien planet after having accomplished his goal of wiping out half the universe.
As for figuring out which characters needed to be in the film versus which had to be jettisoned (not only Hawkeye, who will have a larger role in Avengers 4, but folks like Sharon Carter), McFeely had a fairly succinct formula: “Anything that wasn’t on the main A-plot in response to Thanos collecting the [Infinity] Stones mostly got jettisoned.”
Another great question is how will Marvel promote Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 considering Peter Parker disintegrates at the end of Infinity War?
“Two hours of Aunt May crying,” Markus jokes.
Check out the entire interview here, which is chock full of really interesting questions and answers from two of the most important members of the massive Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Featured image: Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. L to R: Okoye (Danai Gurira), Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Photo: Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2018
