‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Directors Confirm Why It Took One Character Longer to Die

Avengers: Infinity War dealt a serious blow to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and one of the hardest hits was no doubt the death scene of Peter Parker / Spider-Man. Actor Tom Holland got one of the longest death scenes in the film, and while fans have been praising the moment for its dramatic power, they’ve also pointed out that it was at odds with all the other character deaths. Now Avengers: Infinity War directors The Russo Bros are confirming a longtime fan theory about why Spider-Man took longer to die:

Speaking to Huffpost, Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed fans’ observation that it was Spider-Man’s ‘Spider-Sense’ powers that allowed him to be aware of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet wish, before the disintegration took effect. As Joe Russo confirmed: “That’s correct, he was aware of something.”

“Spider-sense,” for those who don’t (somehow) know, is an alert system that allows Spider-Man to know when danger is approaching by delivering a tingling feeling at the base of his brain. A Spider-sense alert increases in severity depending on the threat-level, and has side effects and secondary functions, such as making Peter acutely aware of his surroundings at all times (even in dark rooms), or allowing him to detect certain frequencies that his normal senses do not.

For any longtime Marvel Comics reader, it makes perfect sense why Spider-Man’s Spider-sense would’ve registered impending doom like the death of half the universe – in fact, Infinity War made sure to foreshadow that important showcase of Peter’s powers, early in the film. After Spider-Man: Homecoming avoided the issue of Spider-sense entirely, Infinity War immediately (re-established) it as part of Spider-Man’s mythos, in Peter’s first appearance in the film. While he’s riding the school bus we see Peter’s Spider-sense established by the hairs on his arm standing up, as he is one of the first to become aware of the Black Order’s ship arriving over the skyline of NYC. Having put that moment in place, The Russos actually earn that big dramatic death scene at the end of the film – and Marvel fans got another big movie moment that works great on its own, but has extra reward for fans who know the deeper subtleties of these characters.

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Avengers: Infinity War is now playing in theaters. Ant-Man and The Wasp is set for release on July 6, 2018. Captain Marvel will follow it on March 6, 2019, with the untitled Avengers 4 set to tie everything about the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a bow on May 3, 2019.