Captain America: Civil War Writers Talk About Killing Superheroes

Major Captain America: Civil War spoilers follow.

In a world of fake death and resurrection fatigue in movies and television, Captain America: Civil War's decision not to kill a super hero may have been more impactful than offing one who would likely return later, at least in some form.

The decision to kill or not kill heroes comes from the writers but also from the higher ups and Disney and Marvel Studios.

When ComicBook.com caught up with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, we learned about the behind-the-scenes kill switch and why it wasn't flipped in Civil War like it was in the original Marvel Comics arc.

SM: Hey, we never told anyone someone was going to die!

CM: There is a corporate decision of, "We want that guy fighting in that movie, so you can't kill him." But, also, it would wrap up this conflict that we wanted to stay messy and keep it going so that everyone is still a little sick to their stomach about this conflict that they have not concluded.

SM: I see this all the time, like, "In order to shake it up they've gotta kill somebody!" Well, the challenge is, I think we shook it up plenty and there are ways to take big swings and move the ball down the field without just murdering half the cast. That's not the only way you can change the universe.

CM: Plus, comic book movies in general - but Marvel in particular - is accused of none of the deaths last. So, even if you put a death in, people are gonna go, "[Grumbling sounds]." So, it's like, why bother to do it? You can have more impact not killing somebody than you can killing people at this point. We'll kill them if they need to die.

SM: We're not afraid!

Markus and McFeely will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to write the third and fourth installments of the Avengers franchise. When we asked if they would be bringing the reaper to the Infinity War party, they simultaneously bursted out with, "No comment!" and a laugh.

Captain America: Civil War is now playing in theaters.