Avengers: Endgame Directors Reveal The Cornerstone Moments They Knew Before Beginning

Avengers: Endgame has left lasting changes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fans are still trying to get used to the new status quo. Moments like Tony Stark’s heroic sacrifice and Captain America handing down his shield to Falcon have people asking how long these scenes have been planned. Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo had a Q&A session at Twitter HQ where they talked about how long these “cornerstone moments” have been planned.

The interviewer asks a question about the fan-favorite scene where Captain Americawields Mjolnir during the grand finale’s fight against Thanos. A moment like this had been teased during Avengers: Age of Ultron as multiple heroes attempted to lift Thor’s treasured weapon. The Russos called both that scene with the hammer and finally hearing Steve Rodgers say Avengers Assemble “cornerstone moments” that had been talked about for years between the filmmakers.

Anthony Russo began, “Early in the writing process, we started thinking about that moment.” “I mean there are a couple of cornerstones,” Joe Russo interjected.

“Before you even have a story, sometimes you have these vague ideas, and you know at that moment in Ultron, when Cap budges Mjolnir is so memorable and so pregnant with possibilities. I think it was something that stays ingrained in your memory. You want to find an opportunity to move that idea forward,” Anthony Russo explained.

Long ago on some long-forgotten design document, a lot of the more impactful moments from throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe were plotted out years in advance. Dealing with properties of this size, there are so many callbacks, references, and other instances to excite the fans. It makes sense that the directors saved their best cards for the highest stakes imaginable.

Joe Russo went even further adding, “We made this movie, we knew he was going to pick up the hammer. We knew he was going to say “Avengers Assemble.” We knew that Tony was going to die at the end of the movie…Those were pretty clear from the very beginning.”

In that quote, it becomes quite clear that three of the biggest moments in the film were not only expected but planned for and foreshadowed in everything leading up to Avengers: Endgame. Even the resolution to the cliffhanger in Avengers: Infinity War was mapped out back before those films had been announced.

Anthony Russo said, “We knew we were going to use time travel. Did you say that already?” Before his brother added, “No, but that was another cornerstone.” Every single major twist and turn had been accounted for and plotted out back as far as Avengers: Age of Ultron. The level of detail in the planning and crafting a cohesive narrative around these major revelations and moments is worth considerable praise.