It's fair to say that we'd all love to read Robert Downey Jr.'s mind right now. In a new interview,
Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo revealed that the actor is
"probably the only one to actually read the entire script." That's not massively surprising considering the fact that he's been around since day one and this movie may very well mark his final appearance in the MCU.
However, they also revealed that Benedict Cumberbatch had the opportunity, but Joe adds that his script
"included his scenes only."
Ultimately, this insane level of secrecy was implemented to keep the pressure off the cast and to help them avoid giving too much away (especially after Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo's slips in the past).
"Part of our motivation to do that is it just takes a lot of pressure off of people. It is hard to constantly censor yourself about what you’re saying, how you talk. These movies are your whole life, it’s everything you’re doing all day long. The inclination is to talk about it. So we take a lot of pressure off of people by just saying, OK, the less you know the less you have to mind yourself."
So far, it appears as if the
Avengers: Endgame cast has done a great job of keeping the movie's biggest secrets under wraps, but that hasn't stopped fans poring over everything they've said to try and find some clues.
For a recap of Avengers: Endgame details from the latest issue
of Total Film, hit the "View List" button below!
Captain Marvel's Introduction
Due to the fact
Infinity War and
Endgame were shot back to back, Brie Larson shot her scenes as Carol Danvers in the latter before she started work on
Captain Marvel. Asked what sort of impact that had on the way the massive superhero ensemble handled the character, McFeely explains that it was ultimately a collaboratove process between the filmmakers.
"The temptation would be to make her vague enough that it wouldn't screw the solo movie's plans up, but that would be bad for our movie. So we had to pick a lane, and decide, 'This is what she is now.' And then talk to Anna and Ryan and go, 'Does this prevent you from doing whatever you want in the movie?' They were super cool about that."
What's The Deal With Those White Suits?
One of the biggest talking points about
Endgame has been the fact that Earth's Mightiest Heroes are decked out in new, matching uniforms. The prevailing theory is that they will use them to travel into the Quantum Realm and through time but the movie's writers are saying nothing.
"They all have jobs in our sanitation company. I think they formed a football team!" laughs Markus. McFeely adds: "Half the tailors and half the fashion designers were wiped out, so they're going to do it." Not exactly a satisfying answer, eh?
The Unique Marketing Campaign
In recent weeks, we've been treated to a lot of TV spots and posters for
Endgame but Marvel Studios is being very careful not to shed too much light on what we'll see in the
Infinity War sequel.
Asked why they're handling the marking campaign like this, Joe explained:
"We're being very selective with the material that's going into the trailers," confirms Joe.
"There are a lot of people out there that want to be surprised, and we want there to be room for surprises. We just want to make sure they can't predict anything that might happen. Anything that gives anyone context or, you know, spoils the movie is any way, we're going to keep it under a lock."
These interviews took place in late February and, at the time, Joe said that they were aiming to have the picture locked by the end of last month.
"We're very close to finished...we're on the one-yard line. We completely deliver the film by the very end of March. The hard work isn't done, but the light is at the end of the tunnel."
What Is Avengers: Endgame Anyway?
"It's the culmination film," Joe explains.
"I could tell you that. It's 10 years of one of the greatest experiments in movie history coming to a close."
Markus, meanwhile, is clearly feeling the pressure as he's been working in the MCU for a long time now and with
Endgame taking its final shape, he just hopes fans are happy with the outcome.
"There's a point where you can't change anything, and you've seen it so many times, that it's like, 'I don't know if that's good anymore or not!'" he says.
Is Captain America Going To Meet His Maker?
The prevailing fan theory is that Captain America is going to be killed off in
Endgame and McFeely was careful not to say too much about that. Instead, he simply reiterated the fact that this movie will put the spotlight firmly back on Steve Rogers after he was sidelined in
Infinity War.
"It feels like a trick question because of what you think happens to Cap, so I'm going to ignore the subject," laughs McFeely.
"Yeah, it's really rewarding taking him on the journey he's on. And at the moment, going into this movie, he is laid low, and the lowest he's ever been. So, you know, getting him out of that is perhaps our greatest challenge."
Could Someone Else Take Over The Role Of Steve Rogers?
In the past, Kevin Feige has been very clear about not rebooting characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so does that mean Captain America could live on in a similar style to 007?
Markus doesn't really see things that way.
"Bond doesn't necessarily progress with each film in an accumulative way. It's been really nice to take Cap, and to feel the weight and the damage of each movie on him, in the next one. So he's a very weary soldier, and that has kind of kept it creatively invigorating."
How Endgame Differs To Infinity War
"Without being able to reveal anything about Endgame, they're very different movies - structurally and tonally," Markus reveals when asked about how the two movies - initially marketed as "Part 1" and "Part 2" - differ.
"And that was always the intention from the moment Kevin kind of laid out the layers of what these would be - that they would be two completely different movies."
"Obviously they're more or less dealing with the same story, but one of the advantages of ending Infinity War in such a definitive way is that you can't have more of the same next time."
How The Ending Of Infinity War Impacts What Comes Next
Infinity War wraps up with half of The Avengers turning to dust so common sense says that will be a key plot point in the sequel! However, Joe elaborated on that by going into detail about the way they handled carrying the ramifications of the Snap into
Endgame.
"The intent was to make them distinctive," he explains.
"Obviously we're talking about serialised narratives, so there are story elements that carry across. But I think that this film is very different in feel than Infinity War."
"We do very much commit to the end of Infinity War," Anthony continues.
"In the same way that when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell at the end of The Winter Soldier, we carried that forward, in the same way that when the relationship between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers was destroyed and the Avengers were divided at the end of Civil War, we carried that forward into Infinity War. We were very much carrying forward the end of Infinity War into this movie."
"There will be great stakes for the characters," concludes Joe.
How The Russos Feel About Comparisons To The Empire Strikes Back
Infinity War's ending has been compared to
The Empire Strikes Back due to the fact it left us on a major cliffhanger. Needless to say, Anthony is very happy with that and describes it as
"flattering."
"We were die-hard fans of Empire Strikes Back. It's our favourite Star Wars movie. Again, one of the great licenses that you have with serialised storytelling in cinema is that you can take the narrative to places that an individual, single, standalone film can't. That's one thing we always committed to in Infinity War: telling a story that was not going to go to a conventional place, and it was going to go to a difficult place. And trusting that the audience was ready for that kind of experience with these characters."
Why Endgame Isn't Like Any Other Blockbuster
Endgame is obviously going to be a huge movie but don't think you can go comparing it to any other blockbusters. According to Joe,
"If you look at the whole Marvel Universe in context, I think it's disruptive. It's take the traditional two-hour narrative, and it's turned it into serialised storytelling over a decade, and multiple franchises, and many, many different characters. That alone is disruptive."
"And Endgame, as a combination film, I don't think that this type of movie has necessarily existed before in movies, because it's pulling from so many different franchises," he continues.
"There was Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but you know, not every character in Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter has been dimensionalised through their own franchises."
"So I think this is a unique kind of film where massive amounts of narrative and emotional baggage have been spelled out and handed off to the audience through individual franchise films."
How Long It Took To Shoot The Movies
Infinity War and
Endgame were pretty much shot back to back but just how long were cameras rolling and when did the cast first assemble?
"It was roughly 2017," says executive producer Trinh Tran.
"Pretty much the whole entire year was given to shooting both movies, with additional photography and everything." What an extraordinary feat of filmmaking, eh?
How Marvel Studios Kept Spoilers From Leaking
As you may recall, Marvel handed out fake script pages for Loki's death and those on set believed he would leave in an escape pod!
Unsurprisingly, the same thing happened with
Endgame but Tran started by reflecting on the fallout from all those deaths in
Infinity War.
"It was especially difficult towards the end, too, because the big spoiler at the end of Infinity War was that half of our favourite characters died. So those pages actually didn't exist at all. We didn't publish those or give those out. So not even the cast had those. We had to verbally tell the folks that they were dying, in person."
"Endgame was especially hard in that sense because we felt that pretty much the entire movie was a spoiler."
What Are The Downsides Of Keeping Secrets?
"I think there's always - at least me, personally - a bit of nervousness," Tran says regarding
Endgame's ultra-secretive marketing campaign.
"Are we holding back a little too much? Are fans going to want more? But I think, based on the reaction that people are getting, especially after watching Infinity War - everyone's really clamouring to know: what's going to happen next?"
What The Russos Hope To Achieve
"As storytellers, we want to find places to take the story, and find places to take the characters that surprise us," Anthony explains.
"If we can do that, we feel like we're telling a satisfying story. Really, all we can do is make the most of our opportunity to bring this long, 10-year narrative experiment to a conclusion."
"The idea is to wrap up the first 10 years, and to start a new journey," Joe adds. "You know, we've been reading all the chapters of the book up to this point, and this is the last chapter of this book. And there'll be a new book written."