'Avengers: Infinity War': Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely on Thanos, Getting Voices Right, and Secrecy

After their much-praised efforts writing the three Captain America films frequently brought [...]

After their much-praised efforts writing the three Captain America films frequently brought screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely into close – and decidedly effective – contact with the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, the duo were tapped to tackle storytelling duties on the culmination of a decade of Marvel movie-making, Avengers: Infinity War.

At the film's premiere, the scribes revealed a little inside scoop to ComicBook.com on how they got their arms around the major undertaking – and the intense secrecy it required.

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ComicBook.com: What were you most excited about, as far as the territory in the MCU, to get your hands on as writers and really explore?

Christopher Markus: Thanos himself. He'd been teased, you'd seen his face, he had a few lines in Guardians. He is fascinating. To get to have him stomp around as truly the lead character, the protagonist, of his own movie, which is - you don't get to make villain movies. Yeah, they're making a Joker movie I hear, but I don't know.

Stephen McFeely: And it was nice to get the Guardians. Yeah, for lots of reasons. Because they're funny, but also because they have a real connection to Thanos.

That Guardians territory is so very James Gunn. So how did you guys get there, and did you talk to James a lot?

McFeely: Sure, of course.

Markus: We talked to James.

McFeely: James gave a lot of input.

Markus: They are, in a weird way, even though they have such a special tone, their tone is slightly more similar to how you and I speak than a day in Asgard. So it's like, I get these people. They talk like my friends. So in some ways, it's easier to slip into. And also, you can write a lot, because there's a lot of one-liners in there, you can write a page of alternate things for Rocket to say, and eventually get to them right. It's just fun.

Did you have any idea how big Black Panther and Wakanda would be in the public hearts and minds while planning how to include those elements in the film?

Markus: No.

McFeely: No – we look smart, right?

Sounds like you got a big portion of that in the movie.

McFeely: Yeah, clearly from the trailers, you can see that there's a portion in Wakanda. I will say, the story necessitated it. But even when we decided that, we all sat around and went, "That movie might still be in theaters!"

Markus: We're going to seem like we don't have any new ideas!

McFeely: Yeah, but it was best for the story. So we said, "All right, we're going to do what's best for the story, and let's hope that people are excited to go back." It seems like people are excited to go back.

I have this feeling in pretty much every Marvel movie, but especially the ones that you guys have written: there's always one big moment where I'm like, "That is so Marvel, that is so Stan Lee, that is so Jack Kirby." Those great traditions from the comics. Tell me about finding those moments.

Markus: They might vary for each person watching. It's a certain combination of humor and genuine unembarrassed enjoyment of this stuff. It's not ironic. It's like, "I fucking loved that!" And that's, when you hit that spot, that's when it feels like -- you don't read those comics to be ironic. You read them because secretly you love them.

What is it like to be in this position of being architects of the MCU at this point? You guys are getting a lot of the heavy lifting on the big picture story.

McFeely: It was an honor to be asked to do this big crazy Jenga puzzle of a thing. We love this. We love the characters, and we love the company, and Kevin, and all that. There's a little responsibility to it, obviously, but we're also bullied by everyone. We know if we write a terrible page, someone will tell us it's a terrible page. It's a great safety net.

If it was up to you, would you work in the MCU for the rest of your careers?

Markus: Yes.

McFeely: We would always visit.

Markus: I think it's very good to rotate your crops sometimes. Particularly on this movie, we've gotten to the point where there are characters where there are no limitations. Drama comes from limitations. Everybody has their Infinity Gauntlet. What's the dark moment for the guy who can make a talking cake? I need to write a couple movies of people sitting in apartments not having enough money, and then I'd go back.

Tell me the craziest length you guys have had to go to to protect the secrecy of the story, where you felt like you were James Bond.

McFeely: I would never leave anything in the car. It would be really inconvenient. I'd go to basketball games or dinner, and I'd have an entire backpack. "Sorry, I have the Marvel Universe here in my bag – I can't leave it in my car." That's about as sexy as it got!

Markus: It was a lot of encryption, and a lot of passwords that I constantly forgot. So I was always going to the IT going, "Can you get me into this USB stick so I can get the script off it?"

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Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters tonight with a full release tomorrow, April 27th.

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