Avengers: Endgame Writers Tease That There Might Have Been More Deaths

Marvel fans are still trying to cope with the game-changing events of Avengers: Endgame, and the film’s writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, came to San Diego Comic-Con 2019 to help them along. Comicbook.com got to sit down with Markus and McFeely and do some in-depth recap on Avengers: Endgame, and we found out that the do-or-die mission for The Avengers to restore the Marvel Cinematic Universe could’ve had a lot more deaths before it was over.

You can watch our full interview with Markus and McFeely above. Check below for what they had to say about the different death scenarios they played with, on the road to the epic “I. Am. Iron Man.” finale that fans ultimately got:

Markus: “We may have played with some others… but arc-wise and mathematically it is the perfect ending for Tony Stark. He needs to make a sacrifice – he needs to make the ultimate sacrifice, when you go from selfish to that.”

No fan is going to argue that the arc of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark isn’t brought to a fitting close in Avengers: Endgame. Markus and McFeely go on to point out how Iron and Captain America have opposing trajectories in the Infinity Saga: Tony goes from selfish to selfless, while Cap goes from jumping on grenades to taking a life for himself with Peggy Carter. Still, you have to wonder which other characters Marvel Studios and the writers considered killing or benching besides Cap and Iron Man.

As it stands, Avengers: Endgame is now officially the highest-grossing movie of all time, worldwide, having surpassed Avatar. Funny enough, Endgame crossed the finish line during Comic-Con 2019, just when Marvel Studios’ head Kevin Feige was rolling out the new MCU Phase 4 lineup. That has set the stage for a very exciting and wildly different slate of TV and movie projects in Phase 4; titles like Thor: Love & Thunder or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have fans scratching their heads, wondering what kind of vision Feige and Co. have for this post-Endgame world. However, by now everyone should trust in Feige – after all, after its most profitable slate of films ever in 2019, it’s clear Marvel Studios can do no wrong.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeyein fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.