'Avengers: Infinity War' Director Teases Importance of Who Survives

Avengers: Infinity War director's recent Q&A session at Iowa City High School has revealed all sorts of great insights and explanations that Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been waiting for since seeing Infinity War - including that big question about that final Soul Stone scene!

However, while a lot of discussion and social media trends have been revolving around the big Avengers: Infinity War deaths, Joe Russo spoke to Iowa City High School about the opposing topic: who survives Infinity War.

As Russo explained - the decision to end the film with that nightmarish scenario of half the universe being erased was a very calculated gut-punch to fans - and equally calculated was the lineup of characters that didn't die:

"It was great, something we knew we were going to do from the very beginning- one of the first things we knew we were going to end with. And we wanted the ramifications of the snap- to feel it as you watch it. So it wasn't a plot cliffhanger to end the film, it was an emotional cliffhanger to go beyond the snap and like a horror film make you watch every character you love disappear. That's the catharsis and had we not done that we wouldn't have the emotional reaction that we did... your imagination might not be as horrific as watching them go and watching the other characters watch them. Did anyone specifically notice who was left at the end?"

[Various answers - coalescing around the original avengers.]

"Yes the original avengers...interesting...the original avengers."

Many fans were able to quickly discern that the original Avengers were the ones who had been spared from Thanos' destructive act; indeed much of the shock and horror of that death sequence was seeing the MCU characters we've just so recently become attached to (Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, the Guardians) all being ripped away from us so suddenly.

It was a big twist on expectations, as many MCU fans figured that Infinity War would end with the deaths of the original Avengers, with the new recruits having to come together and defeat Thanos in a sort of "New Avengers" storyline. However, it's now pretty apparent that Avengers 4 will see the original team coming back together for what is likely their final adventure together, before (some of) the new recruits are brought in for Phase 4 of the MCU, and a New Avengers team film. Of course, the intrigue will be in seeing the original Avengers back together after they've all been through so many drastic (and dark) changes. The conflict between them is real on virtually every front, with Tony and Steve still at odds; Bruce and Natasha still estranged; Thor disconnected from many of his teammates; Hawkeye potentially broken from loss; and Rocket just trying to fit in with a new squad.

Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.