When AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR was coming out last year we were all talking about how it was the end of an era, but this time we REALLY mean it when we say it's the end of the era with AVENGERS: ENDGAME. What will happen, we do not know entirely, but we do know it will usher in a whole new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with new characters taking the lead from longtime favorites. By the time ENDGAME comes out it will have taken 22 movies to get here, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is putting one big, final stamp on all of it by giving the first three phases of the MCU one encompassing name: The Infinity Saga.
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Empire Magazine is publishing their big spread on the final movie, and in it Feige gave an interview talking about the entire universe of movies, starting with IRON MAN and wrapping some things up with ENDGAME. In part of the interview, he drops the name “Infinity Saga” (via /Film) to refer to the first batch of 22 movies, which has dealt with the discovery and chasing down of the Infinity Stones. Thanos found all of them in INFINITY WAR, which allowed him to execute the infamous Snap (thanks, Thor), resulting in the much-memed dusting of half of life on Earth – which leads us into ENDGAME.
Feige continued and talked about wanting to bring a sense of finality to ENDGAME, which is a tough thing to do considering there is no roof on the Marvel universe like there are for other major franchises. While there will no doubt be more movies after ENDGAME, Feige says this outing indeed brings things to a conclusion.
“We wanted to bring to a conclusion a series of movies in a way that had never been done before. Harry Potter had an ending because there were only so many books. Lord of the Rings too. But we thought, 22 movies in, wouldn’t it be fun to bring some finality to the storyline.”
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Of course, this does make one wonder if now three phases make for a saga? Should the next phases culminate in a similar massive movie event after ten years, will it also get its own saga title? The Skrull Saga, should those characters come into play as they do in the comics? Secret Invasion? Who knows! But “Infinity Saga” sure looks great on Blu-ray packages and companion books and does a perfect job of further branding the franchise, especially for comics fans who may look at things in terms of longer storylines. Plus, “Infinity Saga” does flow more nicely than saying “Phases 1, 2 and 3.”
As for the characters that will be making up the conclusion to the “Infinity Saga”, Feige said that while some of the more longstanding heroes didn’t get as much time to shine in INFINITY WAR, the main six Avengers will be the major focus of this finale.
“People would point out that that Cap wasn’t in Infinity War a whole lot. And Iron Man didn’t really speak for that last half hour because of what was going on. But those characters, and all of the original six, are very much the focus of Endgame in a very personal and emotional way.”
AVENGERS: ENDGAME stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Bradley Cooper and Josh Brolin and is in theaters April 26.