SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY
Undoubtedly, audiences were rocked by the events of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, which pulled no punches in killing off major fan favorite characters from the opening scene to the closing scenes. For comic fans, especially those well versed in Jim Starlin's Infinity Guantlet and Infinity War storylines, we are well aware of how easy it is to reverse and "fix" things with the guantlet itself, although it depends on who's wielding it. For general moviegoers, however, the stakes are very real and brought many to tears, as comic-book fixes, let alone future movie slates, don't factor into the experience of watching a film like INFINITY WAR; they take it at face value.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley understand this all too well and, talking to Buzzfeed, address the many MANY things that hang in the balance as we transition from INFINITY WAR to the untitled sequel due next year. “It really seemed to be a gut punch to people in a way that I didn't fully [realize],” sad Markus.
One of the things I loved about INFINITY WAR is that it is unquestionably Thanos' movie and, for once, the bad guy wins. “This is the hero's journey for Thanos,” said McFeely. “By the end of the hero's journey, our main character, our protagonist — at least, in this case — gets what he wants.” Markus elaborated, “Even if the end is a tragedy, we wanted it to be definitive. To say, ‘Oh my gosh, what's he going to do?! He's only got one [Infinity Stone] left! I wonder if he'll get the other one!’ That just seemed like ‘Tune in next week’ jerking around.”
So, what about killing off so many characters and in such a random way, particularly at the end?
“First of all, we would do it all over again,” said McFeely about their shocking decision to turn Black Panther to dust. “But remember, when we’re writing [Infinity War], and even shooting, there is no Black Panther movie. We don’t know it’s going to be so good, so effective, so resonant. And we had to treat all these characters the same. People who leave us [in Infinity War] are the leads of their own franchises. And Black Panther’s no different.”
Killing characters as major as Black Panther and Spider-Man also helped drive home for audiences just how immense Thanos’s victory was. “We wanted that thing that happens at the end of that movie to have as much impact as possible,” said Markus. “If you're very carefully getting rid of your supporting cast, then it does seem like you’re pulling your punch.”
But, with all that said, seeing as Thanos was able to reverse changes with the time stone, wouldn't it be possible to do the same if a good guy had the guantlet (as it happens in the comics)?
“[Avengers 4] doesn’t do what you think it does,” said Markus. “It is a different movie than you think it is.” Then he paused. “Also…[the deaths are] real. I just want to tell you it’s real, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to move on to the next stage of grief.”
McFeely broke in. “Put it this way,” he said. “I think [Infinity War] is a fairly mature movie for a blockbuster. It’s got a lot of fun in it, obviously, but boy, it gets very mature. The second one is also mature. We’re going to own these choices, and hopefully surprise and delight you and get you invested. It’s by the same studio, the same filmmaking team. They were written at the same time, shot at the same time. They’re clearly connected, but they are definitely two different movies, one of which is dependent on what happened previous.”
“We broke your heart,” added Markus. “Now we're going to blow your mind!”
So, there you have it. Although, I'm not sure what you have. Both Markus and McFeely are still playing a bit coy here as they are ultimately the keepers of the knowledge of who lives, who dies, who gets resurrected and who stays dead in Avengers 4 and it doesn't sound like they're going to make it as simple as a snap of the fingers. We haven't dealt much by the way of death when it comes to major players in the MCU yet, so it will be interesting to see how it correlates to the big screen vs. the comic page. We'll find out in a year.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is now playing and UNTITLED AVENGERS 4 hits theaters on May 3rd, 2019 (one year from today!)