Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely always knew the five-year time jump inAvengers: Endgamewas a gamble. When they pitched the idea to Marvel Studios, they were wished good luck in attempting to pull off such a lofty goal. With that being said, they were able to seemingly pull off the impossible and make a movie that satisfied the studio along with millions of fans from around the world. Markus and McFeely recently sat down to discuss why they wantedEndgameto take place five years after the events ofInfinity War.
When it comes down to it, the five-year time jump inEndgamewas made to double down on the conclusion ofInfinity War, according toChristopher Markus. Thanos won and he got his way. He Decimated half of the universe and the screenwriters wanted the audience to feel the anguish that the characters were going through. Markus explains.
“It’s almost a desire to go we know what you’re thinking, we know how you think we’re going to get out of this, and we want to reiterate we were serious last time (laughs), and we’re still serious about it, because that’s what we really wanted to explore. The long term after effects of agigantic loss on these heroes.”
Even Marvel Studios was unsure about what Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wanted to do at first. When it comes down to it, they weremessing with the timeline of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, not justEndgame. However, that’s what they wanted to do and Marvel Studios put their faith in them to completely change everything. Markus had this to say about pitching the movie to the studio.
“It was already controversial, not controversial but everyone at Marvel went ‘really? Because you know that’s going to affect that movie, that movie, that movie, that movie… ‘good luck?'”
Another reason behind thefive-year time jump in Endgamewas to give the characters a chance for something else. Stephen McFeely knows Marvel Comics really well, so he went for a deep reference, which is pretty cool for comic book fans. McFeely had this to say about why he wanted the movie to take place after a time jump.
“It was sort of the way, are you familiar with the What If comics? It was basically a way to do the What If’s. So by jumping 5 years you get to have Tony, What If Tony got married and lived happily ever after or What If Hulk became basically the only superhero and was smart. What If Cap seemed like he might want to give up. What If Natasha never left the house and was the last woman on the wall you know? All that kind of stuff. What If Thor became sort of a fat drunk, that was the idea to do that but not as What If. Keep the stakes, that all happened, that’s all part of canon. So that’s sort of part of where it comes from.”
Everything that went down onEndgameandInfinity Waris permanent, assures Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The screenwriters changed the MCU forever and the way that the future movies will be written, adding another layer of connectedness for fans to get through in the MCU’s upcoming Phase 4. you may check out the rest of the interview with Markus and McFeely over at the Empire Podcast.
