Avengers: Infinity War ended with many of our favourite heroes turned to dust at the hands of Thanos, but what would have happened if the X-Men were part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the time?
During a recent interview, Anthony Russo revealed that if he and Joe had access to the mutant heroes in the massive superhero ensemble, only one of them would have been left standing.
"I’d love to see a fiercely motivated Wolverine going up against Thanos," he said, teasing the direction they would have taken the clawed badass in on the big screen.
It certainly would have been a lot of fun seeing Wolverine in action alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes in
Avengers: Endgame, and this isn't the first time the directors have teased their interest in Logan.
They recently said that they would love to return to Marvel Studios to take the helm of a Wolverine movie, and it's obviously going to be amazing to finally see that character alongside the likes of Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Thor down the line (it's just a shame we won't get to see him meet Captain America or Iron Man).
Would you guys have liked to see Wolverine take centre stage in
Avengers: Endgame?
Hit the "View List" button to check out what the Russo Brothers
recently had to say about their interest in Wolverine!
Steve Rogers' Return To The Present Day
At the end of
Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers returns from the past as an old man who clearly decided to remain behind in order to live his life with Peggy Carter. While fans have theorised that he grew old in the MCU's timeline and then just made sure he was in the right place at the right time to meet with his friends, it wasn't quite as simple as that according to the filmmakers.
"You are correct in that he would have had to have worn the quantum suit, using a pym particle to make the jump," the Russos explained.
"He's not wearing the suit on the bench, because that is not the exact moment to which he returned." So, Cap had been back in his timeline for at least a little while, which means there's still a story here for Marvel Studios to explore.
Some Rapid-Fire Questions, Answered
Was Captain America ever going to wear an Asgardian-like suit of armour?
"Cap's shield is armor enough." Was the time-jump always going to be part of
Endgame?
"Yes." Did
Infinity War ever not end with The Snap?
"No." How did the directors make such a seamless leap to blockbusters?
"Action has been a favorite genre of ours for our entire lives and we had been planning on making an action movie for a while before we found Winter Soldier," Anthony explains.
Why Black Panther Was The First To Return
In
Avengers: Endgame's standout "Portals" scene, Black Panther is the first to appear as he steps onto the battlefield with his army in tow. Why, though, was T'Challa chosen as the first one to return?
"We spent a lot of time in the edit room playing around with the sequencing of the portals," Joe explains.
"We probably didn't lock that section of the movie until about a month before the film was in theaters. We always wanted Sam to be the first one to communicate with Cap via his comm and Sam was last in Wakanda, so logically the first portal that would open would the Wakandan portal."
"And the first person that would logically walk through a portal from Wakanda would be the king himself, bringing his army once again to the defense of Cap and the world."
Why James D'Arcy Appeared As Edwin Jarvis
One of
Avengers: Endgame's biggest surprises came when Agent Carter star James D'Arcy made a very brief cameo appearance as Edwin Jarvis. That's the first major movie/TV crossover we've seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so why did it happen?
"Because we love James."
"Also, because Markus and Mcfeely were instrumental in engineering that show," the directors continued, "and because I directed one of the episodes. It seemed appropriate."
Why Did They Cut The Scene With The Avengers Taking A Knee?
The
Avengers: Endgame deleted scene featuring Earth's Mightiest Heroes taking a knee following Tony Stark's death has got fans talking in recent days, so why didn't it make the final cut?
"We found the Avengers kneeling scene incredibly emotional as well, but when played in the run of the film, it felt incredibly similar to the moment when all of the heroes stood on the shore at Tony's funeral, paying their respects to him outside his home," they explained.
"The two scenes, when in the film together, seemed to fight one another, and created a repetitious ending."
The Mystery Surrounding The Soul Stone
Heading into both
Infinity War and
Endgame, there was a lot of speculation about the secrecy surrounding the Soul Stone. It was the only Infinity Stone we hadn't seen in the MCU up until that point, and when the filmmakers were asked about the inspiration for those Vormir scenes and whether it was always the plan to keep the Soul Stone a mystery, Anthony revealed the following.
"For the centerpiece of Vormir where you retrieve the stone, we referenced ruins that were used for human sacrifice as an inspiration," the director revealed.
"The choice to keep the soul stone out of the storytelling wasn't entirely ours, any of the other Marvel storytellers could have gone to that stone at any opponent. But, we were thrilled that the stone had remained a mystery in the MCU and that we were able to use it for such a surprising purpose."
Captain America Has Always Been Worthy
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked this same question during his own Reddit AMA and said that Captain America made a conscious decision not to lift Mjolnir in
Avengers: Age of Ultron.
As you might expect, the Russos agree.
"He always could," Anthony confirms.
"Our interpretation of the famous scene in Ultron was that when he realized he could pick up Mjolnir he quickly chose not to, because he didn't want to embarrass Thor." Whether Joss Whedon had that in mind at the time is hard to say, but it's a cool explanation and an awesome moment in the movie.
How The Russo Brothers Landed The Job
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a hit, but the Russo Brothers were still working on
Captain America: Civil War when Feige asked them to take the helm of the next two
Avengers movies.
"Kevin, and co-president of Marvel Studios, Louis D'Esposito, asked us to swing by their offices while we were in post on Civil War," the Russo Brothers explain.
"The conversation, in short, was, "Guess what. We want to make the two biggest films ever made and we want to shoot them back to back. And we want you guys to direct them." Our response -- "F**K yeah."
Do The Directors Ever Argue?
Joe and Anthony are both brothers and filmmaking partners, so you have to believe that they've had the occasional argument. Well, based on what the latter has now said, it sounds like the process is a fairly straightforward one!
"Film at its essence is a collaborative art form and that process begins for Joe with our partnership," he explains.
"There this thing known as the mastermind principle that says two minds are not doubly better than one they're exponentially better than one. And when we disagree its generally whether we want Indian or Italian for lunch." That's a pretty good way of doing things, and it's clear that they'll be remaining a team for a long time to come.
Why Tony Stark's Death Had An Impact On Them
The Russo Brothers have been lucky enough to get their hands on pretty much every major character in the MCU, but when they were asked which stands out as their favourite, Joe explained why the way things panned out for Tony Stark has stuck with him on a very personal level.
"At this point we have been involved with just about every characters arc in the MCU. But in respect to all of the characters that aren't Cap, I think Tony's arc is incredibly tragic and unquantifiably heroic."
"As a father myself, contemplating the notion of being presented with the choice of saving the universe at the cost of losing your life, and knowing that your child would lose their father, and that your wife would lose a husband, is painfully difficult to comprehend. It's a choice that only the greatest amongst us could make."
How The Disney/Fox Merger Could Have Changed The Movie
The Disney/Fox merger means that Marvel Studios now has access to all the characters from the
X-Men and
Fantastic Four franchises. Had that happened sooner, it would have changed both
Infinity War and
Endgame in a huge way and when they were asked about the impact they think it would have had, they say we would have seen
"Double the amount" of heroes. Whoa!
Captain America's Reunion With The Red Skull
We never got to see Captain America's journey into the past,which means we were robbed of the opportunity to finally see Steve Rogers reunite with his old WWII foe, the Red Skull.
"It was probably more awkward than you imagine it was," Anthony says when asked how that meeting might have gone.
"Red Skull felt slated because Cap didn't recognize him."
Will We Ever See A Director's Cut Of Avengers: Endgame?
Avengers: Endgame was three hours long as it is, but we know for a fact that some footage ended up on the cutting room floor as Katherine Langford's scenes were nowhere to be found. But before you start campaigning for the "RussosCut," the directors want you to know they're happy with it as it is.
"Honestly no, we have always released the version of the movie we wanted to, so you would never see a director's cut of a Russo Brothers' Marvel movie because you have already seen it," Anthony confirms after being asked if they would ever want to release an extended cut with more footage.
Was The Hulk Always Responsible For The Second Snap?
In the movie, The Hulk uses the Infinity Stones to bring back the people Thanos killed, and his arm is left horribly burned (and seemingly useless) as a result. Now, Anthony has confirmed that the Jade Giant was always going to be the one responsible for undoing Thanos' attack on the universe in
Infinity War.
"[It] was always going to be the Hulk," the director reveals.
Now They're Done With Marvel, Which Franchises Are Next For Them?
For the time being, the Russo Brothers are finished with the MCU, and while we know from Comic-Con that the filmmakers are going to be busy elsewhere, which other franchises are they interested in exploring? After all, you have to believe that they can do whatever they want after
Endgame!
"Interesting question. We are quietly, and secretly working on one right now..." they tease.
Here's hoping they end up heading to a Galaxy Far, Far Away or something similar, eh?
Thor Was Stronger Than Ever In Endgame
One Redditor asked the directors if Thor was weaker in
Avengers: Endgame's final battle than in
Infinity War or whether his worthiness meant he had returned to his normal power levels.
"The difficult road that Thor's traveled ultimately gave him strength," Anthony confirms.
"He was stronger than ever by the end of Endgame." In other words, Viking Thor is a legitimate badass!
Will The Russos Bring Wolverine To The MCU?
It's hard to imagine the Russos not returning to the MCU down the line, and they've said on numerous occasions that they would like to bring
Secret Wars to the big screen. Asked which superhero movie not currently part of the MCU they would most want to take the helm of, Anthony responded by singling out one fan-favourite mutant.
"We've always loved us some Wolverine."
That would obviously be amazing, but there's nothing to say it will actually happen!
How Long Did They Know About Iron Man's Fate?
It's been pretty obvious for a while that Robert Downey Jr.'s time as Iron Man was beginning to wind down, and while some fans hoped to see him become Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. or something similar, the decision for Tony Stark to make the ultimate sacrifice was decided upon fairly early one.
"We knew for about three years before we shot the film," Joe said, referring to the hero's demise.
Are There Still More Easter Eggs To Discover?
Now that
Avengers: Endgame is out on Blu-ray, we're going to be able to pore over every single moment in order to hunt for Easter Eggs. The question is, are there more to find?
"Yes."
Time to get hunting...
What Was Their Most Difficult Day Of Shooting?
Avengers: Endgame was a lengthy shoot and it can't have been easy to bring that and
Infinity War to the big screen. However, when asked which day stands out as being the most difficult, they quickly responded with
"Tony Stark's death."
We know that was shot on the final day of production so the Russos clearly saved the trickiest and most emotional scene for last, and it's hard to blame them.
Check out the full Reddit AMA with the
Avengers: Endgame directors,
simply click here!