In an alternate universe,Avengers: Infinity Warended on a whopper of a cliffhanger, but definitely nowhere near as much of a downer note as that Thanos Snap. Indeed, as the film stands now, it ends with half the universe’s population—including many MCU heroes—evaporating into dust as supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) actuallywinsin the end. Not only are the heroes defeated, but their numbers are halved, leaving only the original Avengers team as folks like lil’ Peter Parker (Tom Holland) died horrifically right before our eyes.
Few saw this ending coming, which is why it was so impactful, but in a new interview withEmpire, co-screenwriterStephen McFeely—who alongsideChristopher Markuswrote bothInfinity Warand its sequelAvengers: Endgame—reveals that they briefly considered saving the snap for the second movie:
“We had so much story in those early drafts ofInfinity Warthat, if anything, we thought we maybe shouldn’t do The Snap until the end of act one ofEndgame.”
Infinity WarandEndgamewere shot back-to-back by directorsJoeandAnthony Russoand are very much a “Part 1” and “Part 2” to a story, so there was certainly some room to adjust as needed. But moving the snap toEndgamewould have had major ramifications for the story, especially moving it all the way to the end of Act One. Perhaps this early iterationInfinity Warwould have ended with Gamora’s (Zoe Saldana) death and Thanos capturing all but one of the Infinity Stones? But that ending doesn’t come close to the impact of howInfinity Warconcludes now.
Indeed, it was Marvel’sKevin Feigewho advocated for the most depressing ending possible toInfinity War:
“We talked about that ending for years and years and years,” he toldEmpire. “It was the reason to adaptInfinity Gauntlet. What was the most shocking thing we could do? End the movie with The Snap.”
As it stands, that now sets upEndgameas a wildly unpredictable sequel. Thanos won, half their friends are dead/missing, so now what? Where do the Avengers go from here? That’s the question on everyone’s minds, and that’s what makesEndgameso exciting to anticipate. It could go anywhere, do anything, and end on any kind of note. The only thing we know for sure is that Marvel considersEndgameto be the “culmination” of everything that’s come before. Which means all bets are off.
We’ll see soon enough, asAvengers: Endgameis due in theaters on April 26th.
