‘Avengers: Endgame’ Writers Call Movie “More Ambitious” Than ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

It goes without saying that Avengers: Infinity War was the biggest movie in the decade-plus history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing many heroes together in order to stop the Mad Titan Thanos from wiping out half of all live throughout the galaxy. They failed, but they’ll get another opportunity when Avengers: Endgame premieres next week.

But with less heroes to take on Thanos, the odds are stacked against them. But that doesn’t mean Marvel Studios fans should prepare for a more contained movie, as writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus spoke with BuzzFeed and explained Endgame is “more ambitious” than Infinity War.

“I think we were both honored to be asked to conclude this chapter,” said McFeely. “It’s a story that honors 21 other movies, a dozen characters, and tries to honestly finish most of their stories. … It was no slam dunk that we would do this. It was a big undertaking. And I think once people see it, they’ll hopefully have an understanding of what it took and whether or not we hit the mark.”

Because of everything being packed into the film, Avengers: Endgame will be one of the longest films from Marvel Studios thus far. Some fans have complained about that, but the writers believe the length is necessary.

“It’s exactly as long as it needs to be,” McFeely told Vulture. “Any shorter and it would have felt like we weren’t honoring all the threads and franchises that are feeding into this climax. Twenty-two movies in, not only has the movie earned its length, but people deserve a movie of that substance. I swear to God, it sounds like a paradox to say this, but it’s a lean three hours!”

Co-director Joe Russo supported that assessment, explaining that there are only a few scenes and moments left on the cutting room floor.

“My brother [Anthony] and I are really committed to emotional stakes, and emotion requires story real estate,” Russo said to Box Office Pro. “When you have a sprawling plot with a lot of characters and emotional stakes, it requires time to breathe emotionally. On the scale, you’re just going to wind up at a certain run time. We’ve been really hard on the film. We don’t like excessive run times; it’s just very difficult wrapping up 10 years of storytelling.”

Avengers: Endgame premieres in theaters on April 26th.

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