Spoilers forAvengers: Endgamefollow below.
The third act battle scene ofAvengers: Endgameis not just one of the highlights of the movie, it’s one of the highlights of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. But an alternate, even longer battle scene was actually written and shot before being cut from the film entirely.
As theInfinity Warsequel approaches its, ahem, endgame, all the Marvel characters descend on Avengers headquarters, which has been decimated by a time-traveling Thanos. What ensues is a splash page come to life, as directorsJoeandAnthony Russomasterfully weave in a series of expertly-executed payoff moments for the characters fans have come to know and love. It all flows beautifully and never becomes monotonous. But according to screenwritersStephen McFeelyandChristopher Markus, getting there was a process.
Speaking tothe New York Timesin full spoilery detail, Markus and McFeely reveal they shot “an even much longer battle, with its own three act structure”:
McFEELYIt didn’t play well, but we had a scene in a trench where, for reasons, the battle got paused for about three minutes and now there’s 18 people all going, “What are we going to do?” “I’m going to do this.” “I’m going to do this.” Just bouncing around this completely fake, fraudulent scene. When you have that many people, it invariably is, one line, one line, one line. And that’s not a natural conversation.
MARKUSIt also required them to find enough shelter to have a conversation in the middle of the biggest battle. It wasn’t a polite World War I battle where you have a moment.
One moment that was at risk of being cut was the “female Avengers” bit, which Markus and McFeely say was a point of much debate:
McFEELYThere was much conversation. Is that delightful or is it pandering? We went around and around on that. Ultimately we went, we like it too much.
MARKUSPart of the fun of the “Avengers” movies has always been team-ups. Marvel has been amassing this huge roster of characters. You’ve got crazy aliens. You’ve got that many badass women. You’ve got three or four people in Iron Man suits.
Indeed, while it’s fair to criticize Marvel for making 20 movies before introducing a female-led superhero movie, it’s also hard to deny the goosebumps induced by that female Avengers moment at the end ofEndgame. So I personally come down on the side of McFeely—ultimately, it’s justreallycool.
Here’s hoping theAvengers: EndgameBlu-ray is packed with even more insight into how this epic film all came together. For now, click on the links to our recent articles below:
