‘Avengers: Endgame’ Los Angeles Press Conference Live Recap

On Sunday morning, the cast, directors, and producers of Avengers: Endgame assembled in Los Angeles to discuss the upcoming film in front of members of the press. The conference was set to begin at 10am PT and run for 45 minutes. Updates will be posted below, live throughout the event.

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Kevin Feige, Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Karen Gillan, and Scarlett Johansson took the stage.

How did Downey handle this from the beginning?

“I’ve been thinking about this recently,” Downey Jr. said. “One is the sky if falling and the other is the sky is the limit. As we had many discussions…I’m reminded now that I was talking a lot of smack saying wait til you see where this goes…I just wanted to not drop the ball.” He refers to the career as Iron Man as a relay race.

When did Feige realize the MCU would become so big?

“Big is relative. We hired a great director to do the first film in the MCU and then we hired a great actor,” Feige said. “The bar for success was pretty low. It felt high at the time…It was comparative to other Marvel films that had been out in that general are which is what we wanted to compete with…WE realized this was really gonna be special and more special than we thought…Showing that [Comic Con] trailer, there started to be a much bigger wind behind our back, combined with Mr. Sam Jackson’s cameo…people picked up that that meant this interconnected universe.”

Why is this such a big movie?

“What’s special is all the actors on this stage, all the actors who are not on this stage,” Feige said. “And the fact that…part of the journey is the end. About 4 or 5 years ago, we talked about doing something that’s never been done before…what haven’t we seen in films based on comic characters. We haven’t seen an ending. A definitive conclusion to an overall saga.

“This is a really unique experiment in movies,” Joe Russo said. “I think a lot of people have invested a lot of heart and soul into the characters…what we’re hoping for is that people feel satisfied in the conclusion.”

Danai Gurira — how is it joining the Avengers as Okoye?

“What I can say about Okoye…what I love about her is that she’s very unapologetic and she’s a traditionalist,” Gurira said.

Why is Thor so beloved?

Hemsworth used to wish he could be a part of the Marvel world. “What made it so special for me was the different people I was able to work with, from Keneth Branaugh on that first film” “And then through the films with each director and each cast member I’ve learned something different…The finally, Ragnarok…I had this great collaboration with Taika…I remember calling Joe and Anthony and saying, ‘Look, I’ve got this new version of Thor’…and they said, ‘We’ve got an even newer version for you.’”

What is Evans’ favorite part of playing Captain America and what is his Endgame journey?

Johansson explains that her role started as a character posing as “a sexy secretary” and has evolved into something much bigger. “The next time that we sa her in Avengers, she was one of the boys for better or worse.”

What’s next for Nebula?

“She suffers from some daddy issues,” Gillan said. “I think I’m excited for her to finally face the source of this abuse. This has been building through multiple movies…I would like to see her try and face that. I don’t know if she will. I’m not saying anything. I just got really nervous that I might have gave something away.”

How does Ant-Man fit in?

“I did see the trailer so I do know that I’m in it,” Rudd said. “Remains to be seen…We haven’t seen it either. Everyone is kind of echoing the same sentiment, which is this sense of this completion, this story, but the relationships that are forged, it’s a weird thing to be hired in any job and then get to step into as it’s already picked up speed. It’s like having The Beatles say, ‘Jam with us for a while!’”

How was it joining the Avengers for Larson?

“I came at just the most magical time, I think,” Larson said. “This film will always be, personally, dear to me because it was my first time playing Captain Marvel. WE shot this first. I had to stumble and figure out who this character was with no script for this and no script for Captain Marvel either and perform, for the first time, in front of legends…As big as it is, it still feels like a bunch of kids, just what I was doing over summer break, making movies in my garage…Of course, this film deals with some heavy subject matters…There’s no other word I can describe it as other than just surreal and I can’t wait for this to come out moistly so that I can talk about it!”

Don Cheadle, how is suiting up as War Machine from the beginning?

“Rhodey obviously started as a lighter toned, individual,” Cheadle said. “As the character darkened and things became more compact, I think we’ve seen a real growth of this character…he has his legs under him, no pun intended, literally, and has been able to really be able be a part of this time and contribute…”

How did not having feedback to trailers major set pieces effect putting the film together?

“At the end of the day, we came to this material because we’re fans,” Anthony Russo said. “The energy we move on is our wn passing and our own excitement…We learned long ago that you have to tell stories for yourself…We are able to just fashion the story around what we want to see as fans…”

How does Evans suggest leading people and heroes in real life?

“You try and galvanize like-minded thinkers,” Evans said. Downey points out that Evans has been spending a lot of time in Washington and is “moving in that direction.”

“I make a lot of faces, I needed some help in the editing,” “I remember the brothers were there. I think we restaged it once or twice. It was crazy to shoot it but it was jsut another day and we were doing lunch hand it’s a movie. Then I remember seeing it, and I saw it with this amazing kid, this Scottish kid who couldn’t go to a theater, and his reaction really effed me up….It’s one of those things where you go like, ‘Wow, I think we just made a pretty serious choice here,’ but I think audiences like that I think audiences are so smart. They require to not be fed the same drivel as even twenty minutes ago. We need novelty. I think what Kevin and the Russo’s do is provide that in spades. “

One word to describe Endgame? “Powerful,” Joe Russo said.

How does Evans handle continuity and new characters?

Captain America leans on people who are leaders.

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