Avengers: Endgame Writers Explain Why Time Jump Was Five Years

Fans were stunned in Avengers: Endgame after it came to light that 5 years have passed since half the universe was snapped out of existence by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. The time gap showed how the world is coping with the loss of their loved ones, including our favorite heroes, and that was part of why Endgame writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus chose to make a time jump. In a new interview with the Empire Film Podcast, the writers explained why they chose to jump forward significantly, something necessary to make what happened in Infinity War really matter.

"It's almost a desire to go we know what you're thinking, we know how you think we're going to get out of this, and we want to reiterate we were serious last time (laughs), and we're still serious about it, because that's what we really wanted to explore. The long term after effects of a gigantic loss on these heroes," Markus said.

"It was sort of the way, are you familiar with the What If comics? It was basically a way to do the What If's," McFeely said. "So by jumping 5 years you get to have Tony, What If Tony got married and lived happily ever after or What If Hulk became basically the only superhero and was smart. What If Cap seemed like he might want to give up. What If Natasha never left the house and was the last woman on the wall you know? All that kind of stuff. What If Thor became sort of a fat drunk, that was the idea to do that but not as What If. Keep the stakes, that all happened, that's all part of canon. So that's sort of part of where it comes from."

As for why they chose 5 years specifically, McFeely said: "That's so you don't have to...if you make them 20 now you're taxing your visual effects budget (laughs)."

"You're also...we know knew that we wanted it to stay permanent on an ongoing basis throughout the MCU, and it would basically mean that anybody who didn't get snapped is 20 years older and if we undid the snap, like you'd need new supporting casts for all your franchises. It would just be chaos. It's already going to be chaos," Markus said.

"It was already controversial, not controversial but everyone at Marvel went 'really? Because you know that's going to affect that movie, that movie, that movie, that movie." Yessss,' McFeely offered, adding an unsure "good luck?"

The 5-year jump definitely adds some interesting wrinkles going forward for the heroes of the MCU, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for our Marvel favorites.