Avengers: Endgame is the big finale event that left us all satisfied towards the end. Talking about the end, people loved every bit of it. We all left the theatres happy, smiling and at peace. Very few movies are able to do that, and Endgame certainly was one of them. But apart from the fan service, this film actually did a lot more. It also set up the future and even took some potential controversial steps while bringing in certain characters. It left certain questions in our minds that only future films, or perhaps the directors of the film could have answered.
Well, co-director Joe Russo has come to our aid as he recently took part in a Q&A session in China. We got the answers to a whole lot of questions including the ones about the big and somewhat confusing, but beautiful Captain America ending. Obviously, spoilers are going to follow, but it has been a week, and so we’re assuming most people have seen the film.
Here’s the entire Q&A session that Joe Russo attended in China:
Why was Iron Man the one to do the final snap? Couldn’t people like Thor, Starlord or Captain Marvel, whom all previously have handled the power of Infinity Stones, have done it instead?
Joe Russo: Thor in this movie couldn’t do it, only Hulk was strong enough to do the snap without dying. We are still not sure whether Captain Marvel can also withstand all the power of Infinity Stones at once. The reason we choose to let Iron Man do it, in the end, was because he was the closest one to Thanos at the time. In all the futures Doctor Strange foresee, Iron Man was the only one who could get close to Thanos and do the snap. People usually think the death of a hero is a horrible tragedy. But we think this is different. When his death was able to bring back hope, to save half of the universe, then his death was powerful and meaningful. We shouldn’t feel too sad or angry about it.
Peggy Carter was probably already married and in her mid-40s in 1970, in that case, what year was it that Captain America went back to dance with her?
JR: We can’t answer it, for now, this is a story that happened in an alternate reality. Maybe it will be revealed in the future.
Did Captain America’s action at the end affect the timeline? Does that mean there was a time where two Captain Americas existed in the same universe?
JR: To me, Captain America’s action, in the end, wasn’t the fact he wanted to change anything, it’s more like me has made a choice. He chose to go back to the past and lived with the one he loved for the rest of his life. The time travel in this movie created an alternate reality. He lived a completely different life in that world. We don’t know how exactly his life turned out, but I’d like to believe he still helped many others when they were needed in that world. Yes, there were two Captain Americas in that reality, it’s just like what Hulk said, what happened in the past has already happened. If you go back to the past, you simply created a new reality. The characters in this movie created a new timeline when they went back to the past, but it had no effect on the prime universe. What happened in the past 22 movies was still canon.
In both Infinity War and End Game, the heroes tried their best to take the glove away from Thanos, so why didn’t Doctor Strange just cut off Thanos’ hand with his ability?
JR: Thanos’ skin is almost impenetrable, we don’t know whether Doctor Strange had the capability to do it. If he failed to cut it on time, Thanos would still able to do the snap. Doctor Strange realized this issue during his millions of test runs.
Why did you make Thor fat? Did Chris also become fat for the roll or it was done through CG?
JR: It was mostly CG’d. Thor suffered more loss than anyone else, he has been living in constant pain and regret.
Was old Cap played Evans using makeup? Or it was also post-production CG?
JR: 95% CG, 5% make up. But the voice was 100% Evans, no modification for that.
Can you get the soul you sacrificed for the Soul Stone back when you return it?
JR: No, the process is irreversible. Even if you have returned it to its original location, you wouldn’t be able to get the person back. In fact, it’s not really returning the stone, more like putting it back properly. The tribute soul for the Soul Stone will forever be sealed in that place, therefore Black Widow is gone forever.
How would Cap react when he encounters the Red Skull when he returned the stone?
JR: Red Skull would probably put the Soul Stone back to its location and wait for the next unfortunate stone seeker to make the sacrifice. Cap and Red Skull probably won’t fight. It’s because it’s his mission to return the stone to its original place. The Red Skull is also no longer the same Red Skull from First Avenger. He is more like a ghost, you could almost say he’s a completely different entity now. He only exists to guard the stone, his past conscious may or may not exist anymore.
In Infinity War, Thanos used the Time Stone to reverse time so he could bring back the already dead Vision, and it didn’t cause any time parallax. Why did no one use the Time Stone to save Iron Man’s life in End Game?
JR: It’s because even if you save Iron Man, it will still not change the fact that Thanos will eventually win the war. Among the 14 million possibilities that Doctor Strange has seen, Iron Man’s sacrifice is a must for that one win scenario.
How did Thanos bring his army to the future?
JR: There is a guy called Maw in his army, he was a great wizard. Thanos himself was a brilliant genius as well. Those two easily reverse engineered and mass-produced Pym Particles.
What about those people who got dusted? What did those five years mean to them? Why didn’t they grow older when undusted?
JR: Yes, those people who were lucky to survive the snap are 5 years older than the people who just got back. The reason Spider-Man saw his friend again in high school at the end was simply that his friends were unfortunately also dusted like Spider-Man was. Of course, there are people in his grade who didn’t die and they are probably already in college by now. To those dusted people, they had no consciousness in these past 5 years. They didn’t know what happened. It’s as if they had just woke up from a long sleep. The only one who was aware of how many years has passed was Doctor Strange because he has already seen that when he was time-meditating on Titan. Parker’s reunion with Ned was a touching moment. There are also people who indeed moved on but suddenly was reunited with their lost ones. Yeah, it’s kinda complicated world now.
What if the mouse didn’t press the button to turn on the quantum machine, wouldn’t that stop End Game from happening? Isn’t this a bit too much a coincidence?
JR: Yes, the MOUSE SAVED UNIVERSE. Among the many realities in those 14millions, possible futures Doctor Strange foresee, the mouse failed to press a button and thus the heroes failed in those futures.
End Game’s plot, is it a parallel universe or a closed time loop?
JR: Nope, not a time loop. Both The Ancient One and Hulk were right. You can’t change the future by simply going back to the past, but it’s possible to create a different alternate future. It’s not a butterfly effect. Every decision you made in the past could potentially create a new timeline. For example, the old Cap at the end movie, he lived his married life in a different universe from the main one. He had to make another jump back to the main universe at the end to give the shield to Sam.
There was a metal smashing sound when the movie ended. Was that Easter Egg? Or just a tribute to Iron Man, or maybe an implication that Iron Man will return?
JR: It was our way to say goodbye to him.
Why was there no Iron Man body at his funeral, only his arc reactor? And is there any secret messages to bring back that kid from Iron Man 3?
JR: We just feel that he should participate in Iron Man’s funeral. As for whether he will appear again in future, who knows.
Why didn’t Black Widow get a funeral as well?
JR: Did you forget when the heroes were mourning for her after when they returned from the past? Maybe her funeral happened off screen. Maybe it will be shown in a future installment –because there are still tons of stories in MCU that are waiting to be told.
So, this must have solved each and every query that you may have had after watching Avengers: Endgame. There’s a reason why it is on track to become the highest grossing movie of all time, and that’s simply because this is the best MCU film ever!
