Avengers: Endgame Writers Address the A-Force “Fan Service” Scene

It took over a decade of filmmaking, over the course of 20-plus movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but superhero fans finally got an epic battle between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Mad Titan in the climactic finale to Avengers: Endgame. In a film that relished in the past, there were lots of moments that celebrated the legacy of Marvel Studios.

One such scene occurred in the battle at the end of the movie, when some of the heaviest hitters in the Marvel Studios stable gathered around Spider-Man and Captain Marvel in an effort to protect the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos’ forces.

Oh, right: all of those heroes just happened to be women. The scene was well received among many audiences, but go online and any mention of this part will bring some detractors out of the woodwork. But the writers of Avengers: Endgame aren’t worried about those criticisms; the scene was one of their favorites in the film.

“These movies would be nonexistent without the fans. So, you know, a movie that is made to frustrate fans seems a little suicidal,” co-writer Christopher Markus said to Variety. “People say ‘fan service’ like you are pandering to some niche. I mean, we’ve all seen the numbers that these movies make. The fans are the majority at this point. Fan service is simply honoring the stories that have come before. It’s not like we’re pulling out a tiny Easter egg that only three people are going to get. It’s just tying up the threads; it’s picking up the nuances that have been dropped earlier. I don’t see it as any kind of niche writing.”

Co-writer Stephen McFeely said that all of the women from the production office and the crew made their way to the set the day they filmed that scene, gathering behind the camera to see history being made.

“They were pumped. There was a lot of pumped circumstances around it,” McFeely said. “We certainly thought long and hard about whether it had been earned. We really wanted most of these moments to be earned and not just a delightful piece of fan candy. Honestly, it made me nervous and sometimes, we would bring it up: ‘Do we keep it? Do we not keep it?’ And pretty much we all said, even me, ‘God. I’d rather see it. I’d rather it be in there and make a big conversation and some people won’t think we earned it.’ Everyone wanted to leave it in the movie.”

While some fans might criticize this moment, it has certainly gotten more attention than the scenes where all of the male characters gather together to discuss Sokovia Accords or Fury’s weapon developments. Sometimes, we just can’t have nice things.

But maybe this will pave the way for an A-Force movie, and those who are excited about the prospect will have something else to get hyped over.

Avengers: Endgame is now playing in theaters.

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