How do you possibly craft a feature film that pays off the journeys of a dozen or more characters over the course of 21 films and somehow pleases the fans and makes $2 billion in the process? That’s the question that plagued writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely when they were presented with a blank document and a ton of expectation before penning the script for “Avengers: Endgame.” And when the writers talk about it, you can tell they were fully aware of the pressure of the situation.
Markus and McFeely are responsible for all three ‘Captain America’ films, as well as last year’s mammoth “Avengers: Infinity War.” So, the screenwriting duo are no strangers to the Marvel Studios system of filmmaking. But ‘Endgame’ is an entirely different beast, altogether. The big problem, this time, facing the writers is the idea of what you do in a film that follows up after half of the universe’s living population is wiped out in an instant by a Mad Titan with a gold glove?
“Just address everything honestly,” said Markus (via Buzzfeed News). “The weird box we left ourselves in at the end of ‘Infinity War’ — what the hell do you do after that? Literally just start the movie with that question and go from there.”
And apparently, that’s exactly what they did. Somehow the duo, combined with another duo of Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of ‘Endgame,’ were able to create a three-hour film that somehow carries the weight of the biggest franchise in history on its back. This film marks the end of a franchise and a sense of closure on a scale that has never before seen on the big screen. Perhaps, the most apt comparison, at least on scale, is the Peter Jackson-directed ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. But even then, the writers say, ‘Return of the King,’ which ended the trilogy, had a totally different goal and story.
“‘Lord of the Rings’ very much feels like they hit pause [between movies] and then hit play and the story continued,” Markus said. “We really wanted to differentiate the movies in tone and in shape.”
Now that the film is wrapped and ready for mass consumption later this week, the only question that remains for Markus and McFeely is what they’re going to do next? We already know that the duo is keeping close with the Russo Brothers on their upcoming AGBO venture, which means there are no Marvel films on the docket. But is ‘Endgame’ an ending for them, as well?
“[We’re] taking a break,” Markus said. “[The MCU] is obviously about to have a huge injection of new blood. Launching a lot of new things. So it’s going to get interesting.”
“But, you know, it’s the best working experience of our lives,” McFeely added. “So if they call, we’d answer.”
“Avengers: Endgame” hits theaters on April 26.