The big finale of The Infinity Saga brought in so many characters together, as this time the number of characters was even more than Infinity War. There were certain characters that were expected to be back in Avengers: Endgame but did not return. But other than that, we all expected that if such a major cosmic event took place in Infinity War and Endgame, then the cosmic entities should make some kind of interference just like they did in the Infinity Gauntlet Storyline.
The MCU has teased the likes of Eternity, the Living Tribunal, celestials, and a few other cosmic entities of the MCU to exist in the same space as the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and all others. So, a cosmic event like this where half the population of the entire world was wiped for more than 5 years should have had some involvement of the bigger people from the Universe. But as the story was focused too much upon the Avengers and the run time was also limited, so no one from that department made a cameo.
Of all beings, people actually hoped for Lady Death to be the ultimate villain when “a greater threat” was being teased by the Endgame merchandise. But as it turned out, the greater threat to the Avengers was a Thanos from the past.
Now that Infinity War and Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely sat down to talk with The New York Times, they revealed that there was scope for a major cosmic entity to make a cameo in either of the two films. They said that they did have plans for The Living Tribunal initially:
“Markus – We did try to put the Living Tribunal in the first movie. We wrote a scene in which he appeared during the Titan fight. And everyone was like, ‘What?’
McFeely – He’s got three heads. It would indicate a whole different level of architecture to the universe and I think that was too much to just throw in.”
Ultimately Living Tribunal’s appearance in Infinity War didn’t make too much sense for the other Endgame creatives and thus the idea was rested. But Markus did go on to say that “The idea’s still in Kevin [Feige]’s court.” So this does mean that we could be seeing Living Tribunal pop up into the MCU sometime in the future.
But if you think about it, the main function of the Living Tribunal is to safeguard and protect the entire multiverse. He has the duty to oversee and maintain balance in the realities that constitute the multiverse, and so his appearance would have been fitting. But there was certainly no time left to explain that, so it’s okay to have saved him for the future of the MCU.
Directed by Joe & Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Danai Gurira, Peter Dinklage, Benedict Wong, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Brolin, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Paul Rudd, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Tessa Thompson, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Tilda Swinton, Ty Simpkins, Ava Russo and Brie Larson.
Here’s the new synopsis of Avengers: Endgame:
“Thanos snapped his fingers in Avengers: Infinity War, and half the life in the universe instantly dissolved. Now a ragged group of surviving warriors, including Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk works to counteract the Mad Titan’s genocidal action.
Since our heroes couldn’t stop Thanos the first time, what makes them think they can win in a rematch? The answer may be in overwhelming power, thanks to Captain Marvel, or in the tiniest spaces between atoms accessible to Ant-Man. Avengers: Endgame will rewrite the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. When it’s all over, nothing will be the same.”
