‘Avengers: Endgame’ Directors Expect Stronger Reactions Than ‘Infinity War’

Avengers: Infinity War stirred up quite a buzz when it ended by having the villainous Thanos succeed in his mission to erase half of the universe from existence. It has dominated conversation since its launch in April of 2018. With Avengers: Endgame following up Infinity War‘s events later this month, the directors Anthony and Joe Russo are expecting the conversations and reaction to be stronger, this time around.

“All we’ll say is even more water cooler talk,” Joe Russo told ComicBook.com in an interview at CinemaCon, seen in the video above. “Probably bigger water cooler talk.”

Heading into the film, the Russo Brothers are chasing the story rather than the size in Avengers: Endgame. They’re looking to handle the narrative which culminates 11 years worth of story, realizing how fortunate they are to be in such a position as film makers.

“You’ll see this from movie to movie for us, for Joe and I in the MCU,” Anthony Russo said. “We really strongly commit to the storytelling that’s come before. We strongly commit to what’s happened to those characters in Winter Soldier, to the dividing of the Avengers in Civil War and the destruction of the relationship between Tony and Steve. The same way, we’re committing to the end of Infinity War. What we do is we track how each of those characters who survived, what is their relationship to those events? How do they move forward from that moment? How do they move forward, individually? Collectively? How do you deal with defeat as a super hero?”

This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for the directing duo, and possibly for the audience set to consume their work.

“I don’t know if, as film makers, you ever see this opportunity again,” Joe Russo said of their work on Avengers: Endgame. “But it’s a clearly audiences are really supportive of the story being told, the Marvel universe, and we’re bringing it to a grand close in Endgame…the most heartwarming moments to us when we travel around the world promoting this movie are when people say to us, ‘Hey, I started watching this with my classmates when I was 10 years old and now I’m 21 and we’re all going to go see it together,’ or, you know, ‘My parents and I have seen every one of these films together,’ or, you know, ‘I brought my kids to every one.’ Whatever it is, there’s always some sense of community around it and you asked that question earlier about reaching global audiences … it just is something that seems to bind people in a way that is really satisfying as a film maker.”

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.