Infinity War writers say some characters will get more time in Avengers 4

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

 *MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR*

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR took the largest superhero cast ever assembled, put them into one movie, and for the most part, made it work incredibly well. The majority of the characters get a fair share of screen time as the movie bounces from one location and group to the next. However, some big characters didn’t get the kind of development fans were expecting, which may have been a small letdown. But do not fret, for the screenwriters ensured this is all part of the plan.

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During a recent interview with THR, writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely talked about juggling all the characters in this movie, and how they “cracked” certain heroes, determining how they would handle the invasion of Thanos. This meant maybe not giving certain characters the most to do but assured they will have much more time to shine come AVENGERS 4. 

Markus: Some of the people, when you weigh up who you are seeing, seem to take a little bit of a backseat in this one. When we did crack them, what we realized was they had far more potential in the movie coming next year, just in terms of how their character would be tested by the story. I'm not telling you what the story is. I will say there is less Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) than you might expect in this movie [Infinity War]. Because they are such hard-bitten people, when a threat comes, they stand there and they take the threat. They don't crack. They don't whimper. They don't start talking about all their failed opportunities. So, there isn't that much to explore, especially when you don't have a lot of time. But there's a lot later.

McFeely: We cracked them both [Infinity War and Avengers 4] together, so we had to give ourselves permission to say that some people are going to get more in the next movie.

One big missing character from INFINITY WAR was Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, who has his second solo movie coming out in July. McFeely talked about how they took this scheduling as an opportunity to work his absence into the writing of WAR and AVENGERS 4.

McFeely: When we get to this time next year, all will become clear. Ant-Man clearly had a specific requirement, which is he had an entire movie [July's Ant-Man and The Wasp] that is going to come between these two movies. Same thing with Captain Marvel, by the way. We looked at that as an opportunity, not as some sort of backbend we had to do.

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Aaaaannnnnd nothing about Hawkeye moving on.

If I have any gripe about INFINITY WAR (and I have very few), it’s that characters like Steve Rogers/Captain America and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow don’t get to do much other than fight. But, in the context of the movie I get why that’s their main prerogative. It makes sense for them to want to be at the front of the fight – especially Cap – no questions asked. Meanwhile, it’s far more plausible (and entertaining, in terms of character moments) to have Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) challenge each other’s morals ideologies as they take the fight to Thanos. Come the next movie they will be in a WAY different scenario, so they will have opportunities to evolve in unique ways as characters. I mean, it's easier to get more screentime when several members of the cast won't be around after getting totally Thanosed. 

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is in theaters now.