Why do important characters have to die? The screenwriter of "Avengers 4" gives you an unreserved answer

Advance warning: This article contains a lot of spoilers!!!

Recently, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, screenwriters of "Avengers 3" and "Avengers 4", were interviewed by The New York Times and answered many questions that everyone is concerned about.

Why did Black Widow die?

In the original script, Hawkeye was the one who was sacrificed. Jen Underdahl (female), the film's special effects producer, saw this and said to the screenwriter, "Don't take him away from her." The screenwriter was touched and revised the script after thinking it over again and again. (The implication is that the dead are a relief; the living have to endure the sadness of losing their loved ones forever)

This choice is also in line with the setting of Black Widow: as an agent, Black Widow grew up in a cruel and terrible environment. When there is a chance to reunite others with their families, she will make sacrifices regardless of everything.

Does Iron Man have to die?

The title of this movie is "End Game", and since he started the universe, everyone should know that this will be the end of Iron Man.

In addition, Iron Man has always existed as a mirror of Captain America. Iron Man finally made a selfless sacrifice, while Captain America finally chose to practice his own dream. They both reached the end.

Is there any particular rule for when to snap your fingers?

The screenwriter was very thoughtful and particular: if the finger snap in Avengers 3 was played too late, it would be postponed to Avengers 4. If it was played too early, it would be too disappointing for people to watch the half-hour scene of the film turning into ashes. Therefore, it was decided to have the finger snap at the end of the film.

"Avengers 4" wants to focus on the six veterans of the Avengers. When most of the protagonists have turned to ashes, it is time for them to show their talents. Therefore, the return of other people will be placed at the end of the movie to give the six veterans enough time.

The first hour of Avengers 4 is too depressing, isn't it what a superhero movie should be like?

I was a little worried at first, but after seeing how depressing the ending of Avengers 3 was, the audience didn't rebel, but were deeply moved. This gave the screenwriter courage.

In addition, they also revealed that the original script was more depressing and tear-jerking. In Avengers 4, only Ant-Man visited the Memorial to the Dead in San Francisco, while the original script would have shown the Memorial to the Dead in every city, with countless names of the dead.

How is the character development trajectory determined?

Hypothetically, what would happen if they lost? "Thor would get fat. Natasha would shut herself off. Steve would get depressed. Tony would move on with his life. The Hulk would be a superhero. Clint would become a murderous maniac."

"At the beginning of Avengers 4, Thor begins his revenge mission (killing Thanos). In fact, he also took the revenge route in the previous movie, Endgame. This is everything this guy has done! And he has always failed. Let's push him to the edge and see what happens."

"He started drinking and became a fat nerd."

Why does Avengers 4 begin with Hawkeye's story?

Originally, this scene was supposed to appear at the end of "Avengers 3" to show the suffering brought to people by Thanos' snap. However, this would weaken the cruelty of Thanos' snap, so director Joe Russo said it would be better to put it in "Avengers 4".

Black Panther and Captain Marvel are doing so well at the box office, didn't you think of increasing their roles?

Screenwriter: "We really didn't have time to adjust. When "Avengers 3" and "Avengers 4" started production, "Black Panther" started filming. After "Black Panther" was finished, we were still filming."

The same is true for Captain Marvel. After Endgame and Endgame started shooting back-to-back, Captain Marvel was filmed. Captain Marvel has finished filming, but Endgame is not finished yet.

The Easter eggs in "Avengers 3" and the order in which the "Captain Marvel" movie appeared made everyone think that Captain Marvel was very important in "Avengers 4". However? It seems that he is not?

"Indeed, Captain Marvel will appear in less scenes in Avengers 4 than you think. That's not the story we want to tell. What we want to tell is how the first generation of Avengers deal with failure and how to find the answer. And she is a newcomer."

Is there a character you really wanted to include but ultimately didn't?

The Living Tribunal. The supreme god of the Marvel Universe, responsible for maintaining the balance of the universe, has three heads. It was originally planned to have him appear in the climax fight at the end of Avengers 3, but it was rejected.

But the screenwriters revealed that they do not rule out his appearance in future Marvel movies. (Oops, spoilers)

Avengers 4 has a five-year time jump. Were you inspired by other movies or TV series?

The American TV series "Fargo" (but it only jumps by one year).

American TV series "Lost" (flashback to the past).

Why did you think of time travel?

Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

This was the boss' idea - Kevin Feige said he wanted to use the Time Stone, or at least play some tricks with time.

Screenwriter: "We were just lying there like, what? Really? Are we really going to time travel???"

The appearance of Ant-Man gave inspiration. "There has been a time factor in the MCU so far - the quantum realm, and there is a character called Ant-Man that we haven't used yet. We have a loophole that is not cheating."

They are all fictional movies, why do you laugh at Back to the Future?

There are two settings for time travel: one is to go back to the past and affect the future; the other is to not be able to affect the future (similar to a parallel universe). "Avengers 4" chose the second one, while "Back to the Future" chose the first one.

In order to emphasize that I am the second type, I can only laugh at "Back to the Future" a few more times. (Two American captains meet, and the villain also uses time travel to cause trouble, which is very similar to "Back to the Future 2")

How to choose the scene when traveling back to the past?

This is where the disagreement between the screenwriter and director comes in. In the first draft of the script, there was no time travel back to the "Avengers" movie because the screenwriter felt it was too "kitsch."

In the first draft, Iron Man traveled to Asgard and fought Heimdall in an invisible armor; Thor and Natalie Portman's ex-girlfriend had many scenes. In the first draft, the scenes on the planet Morag were very complicated, and many of them took place underwater...

Finally, Joe Russo said, why can we go back to "Avengers" and not go back to "Avengers"? That's it.

When Marvel found out you had written a climactic battle scene with all the heroes present, did they feel devastated?

They knew it. The play was supposed to be longer, consisting of three acts.

Have you ever thought about bringing characters from Netflix's Marvel TV shows, such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones, into the movies?

"Oh my god! Avengers 4 already assumes that the audience has watched the previous 21 Marvel movies. Are we also supposed to assume that they have subscribed to Netflix and watched the TV series?!"

Have you ever thought about bringing characters that Disney acquired from Fox, such as the X-Men, into the movie?

“It’s not allowed legally.

Although the merger is complete, Fox's movies have not been finished, such as Dark Phoenix, which has not been released yet. We can't touch them until they are finished. "

Do you watch "Game of Thrones"? Some people think that "Avengers 4" and "Game of Thrones" have similarities, both of which are stories about heroes preparing for battle.

"People often complain that Marvel movies are the most expensive TV series in history. This makes sense. But the two works are different in genre and tone, but they both tell series stories."

"I remember Endgame was a reference to that. How far apart and how long apart can you make different groups of people and still have it feel like a cohesive narrative?"

Is it okay for Avengers 4 to be three hours long?

No! Not at all!

In Avengers 4, Falcon becomes Captain America's successor. So, there will be movies about him in the future?

Of course this cannot be said.

However, Marvel is going to make an awesome "Moon Knight" movie.