The latest film from Marvel Studios brought together many of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in an effort to take down the Mad Titan known as Thanos, and it provided some interesting team ups along the way. But one group of heroes was almost very different.
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While speaking with Yahoo! about Avengers: Infinity War, screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus revealed that Anthony Mackie as the Falcon took the place of Spider-Man in an early draft of the film, reuniting the two enemies in the wake of Captain America: Civil War.
“There was one [version] where Spider-Man did not go to space, and where Falcon went to space,” Markus said. “And it was fun, it was interesting, it’s always great to have those guys in various situations and there was a lot to do with them in both situations, but we weren’t getting as much emotion as we could if we brought them back to people who know them.”
In the final version, Falcon is apart of Captain America’s team of clandestine crimefighters alongside Black Widow, while Tom Holland as Spider-Man joined his mentor Iron Man in rescuing Doctor Strange and having a showdown with Thanos alongside half of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
That might have proved to be the best decision and a testament to the screenwriters wisdom, as the final scene with Peter Parker fading from existence while Tony Stark holds him are some of the most emotional scenes in the film.
Holland and directors Joe and Anthony Russo spoke about that scene, with Holland not knowing his character was dying until the day they shot it. He also had to improv the scene, which proved to be one of the most emotional moments in the film.
Weta’s visual effects supervisor Matt Aiken, who helped handle this particular scene, spoke about why Holland’s character managed to stick around a bit longer when so many other heroes had already succumbed to the Snappening.
“Spidey’s really fighting it,” Aiken said. “He definitely doesn’t want to go and he’s fighting… he’s incredibly powerful, so he’s able to withhold it for a lot longer than some of the others, but in the end he can’t withstand it.”
Avengers: Infinity War is now playing in theaters.
Would you have liked to see Falcon and Iron Man teaming up? Or are there any other pairings you wish could have happened? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
