Avengers: Endgame Originally Had A Different Plan For When Everyone Would Return

One of the coolest scenes in Avengers: Endgame (and there were plenty to choose from mind you) is when all of the returning heroes show up through portals and join the fight alongside the Avengers in the third act of the film. Before this, the Avengers hold their own for a while but they are showing signs of being worn down, and at that moment Doctor Strange opens up a series of portals that usher in heroes like Spider-Man, Valkyrie, Black Panther, Star-Lord, Groot, and more. It seems though that the scene wasn’t always laid out that way according to the Avengers: Endgame commentary, where writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus and directors Joe and Anthony Russo revealed another idea they had before that final version was settled on.

“Just on an act-construction level, we were faced with a strange problem where we needed two snaps of the Gauntlet and asked ourselves often ‘what does it mean to bring everybody back?’ And “What is the best way to do that?” We certainly tried a version where everyone came back and you knew it immediately, and there they were, McFeely said. “Maybe they all came back to wherever you wished them to come back. And then Thanos attacked them all at once. Doing that prevented us from a really heroic reveal, which is coming in about 20 minutes where the cavalry comes.”

“And also I think, went counter to the logic that everyone would just return to the moment from which they disappeared,” Joe Russo said.

“That’s the thing,” McFeely added.

“It also made the fight feel like an afterthought because they had accomplished their goal,” Markus said. “Even if those people are brought back when Hulk snaps his fingers, you still have that lingering feeling that all is not resolved yet.”

It would be hard to imagine the scene playing out the original way and still having the impact and momentum that the reveal had in the finished film. That part of the film debuted to numerous hand claps and celebrations from audiences, confirming that your favorite hero was now alive and well and also ushering in a new wave of possibilities for the rest of the battle.

Which version do you like though? Let us know in the comments!