AVENGERS: ENDGAME Directors Talk Topping INFINITY WAR, Current Three-Hour Runtime, And More
In a new interview, Joe and Anthony Russo talk about their plans for Avengers: Endgame, weigh in on wrapping up a decade's worth of stories, and the fact that, yes, the movie may be three hours long...
"With a lot of hard work." That's Joe Russo's response when he's asked how he and Anthony are going about topping the epic events of Avengers: Infinity War with next April's Avengers: Endgame.
"Whether we top Infinity War or not, I don't know," he continues. "But we try to tell the best story we can with these characters. This is bringing to a close the first decade of stories. I think that alone has a dramatic power to it." There's no denying that. However, when pushed for details on what fans can expect from the movie, Joe adds: "We've sat on the title, we've sat on the trailer. The last thing we want to do is give any clues to story structure or tone."
That's an attitude unlikely to change in the coming months but Antony did at least offer a tantalising tease for what comes next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "These are characters and a story moving forward where Infinity War happened. The entire universe experienced the same fate, and has been brought together by this experience."
As for where things stand with Thanos since he managed to defeat Earth's Mightiest Heroes and wipe out countless lives across the universe, Joe points to him having given up the fight to enjoy his victory. "He's succeeded in the thing he has set out to do. He's done. He did it. He's retired," Joe says. However, it's hard to imagine that we've seen the last of the Mad Titan in action!
Regardless, there will be plenty of time for him to shine because Joe went on to confirm that, as of right now, Avengers: Endgame is going to end up reaching the three-hour mark! "There's a high probability that this movie will clock in at around three hours. It's a big movie with a lot of story." An epic finale needs space to breathe but should we have tissues handy for an emotional ending?
"I will be bringing one," laughs Anthony.
Click on the "View List" button below to see what the Avengers:
Endgame trailer tells us about the heroes who are alive...and dead!
Iron Man
Tony Stark dominates this trailer but we learn an awful lot about what he's been up to since the events of Avengers: Infinity War regardless. While many of us suspected that he would be trapped on Titan for the indefinite future, those of you who predicted that he would escape the planet in the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship can now pat yourselves on the back.
Unfortunately, things are looking bleak for the Armoured Avenger as he's run out of food and is about to run out of oxygen too.
With his death almost certain (hence the message he's leaving for Pepper Potts), someone will have to rescue Iron Man and there are really only two possibilities: either Captain Marvel stumbles across him or Rocket is able to track the ship for Thor to travel to it with Stormbreaker.
Thanos
We catch only a fleeting glimpse of the Mad Titan here but he now appears to be wearing a tunic of some sort (not all that different from the one his comic book counterpart ended up in at the end of the Infinity Gauntlet comic book series).
The Infinity Gauntlet, meanwhile, seems to have fused itself to the villain's hand as he's still wearing it. It's also possible, of course, that he won't take it off because he's scared of anyone else being able to wield all that power but he's hung up his armour and clearly feel like his job is indeed done).
Captain America
In the grand scheme of things, Steve Rogers played a relatively minor role in Avengers: Infinity War but we've heard that he'll have a lot more to do in this movie and that's evident from this teaser.
Now clean-shaven, Captain America is clearly in charge of the remaining Avengers at the New Avengers Facility and appears to have suffered a huge blow after the loss of his friends. However, he's a man with a plan and if that plan doesn't work...well, he doesn't know what he'll do!
Interestingly, Cap is wearing his Super Soldier suit from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and if I had to hazard a guess, that's because he still doesn't feel ready to wear the red, white, and blue.
Black Widow
Back at Steve's side, Natasha is clearly helping him lead what's left of The Avengers and will be key to enacting whatever plan he has in mind to make things right. Despite her hair being red in leaked promo art, she still has her new blonde locks during this trailer and that could be because this footage is from the first act of the movie, something reliable sources have claimed since the teaser dropped.
Bruce Banner
We don't get an update on The Hulk in this trailer but Bruce Banner has joined back up with his friends and is busy looking through the heroes who have gone missing since Thanos defeated the team.
He's clearly struggling to deal with those losses but what's really interesting is that Tony Stark clearly had a file on Peter Parker despite him having a secret identity (those have never really meant much in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be fair, though).
Shuri
Despite the fact that we didn't see Shuri turn to dust at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, she's clearly believed to be among the dead as it makes no sense for her to have just vanished, leaving the throne of Wakanda vacant in the process (personally, I'm rooting for M'Baku to be named King).
Taking Shuri off the table by turning her to dust makes perfect sense as it leave Bruce as the sole brains behind the team and takes Earth's Mightiest Heroes back to basics by putting them back where they were in the 2012 movie. It's possible that Marvel Studios is just trolling us but I don't think so.
Thor
The God of Thunder still doesn't have two matching eyes but the biggest takeaway here is that he's wearing street clothes and still dealing with the fallout of his action in Avengers: Infinity War.
After all, while Star-Lord certainly played a part in Thanos' victory, had the Asgardian hero not taken those few seconds to gloat and buried Stormbreaker in the Mad Titan's head, he never would have been able to snap his fingers and enact a plan which wiped out half of all life in the universe.
Nebula
We only get a fleeting glimpse of Nebula here but she's clearly on the same ship as Tony Stark and just days away from dying right alongside him. The former villain has been portrayed in a more heroic and sympathetic light since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and it will be interesting seeing how exactly she gets along with Iron Man, especially as Karen Gillan has teased an unexpected friendship.
Hawkeye
Judging by the timing of the voiceover from Steve Rogers throughout this teaser, Hawkeye's family were among those who perished during Thanos' attack and that's had a pretty significant impact on the archer. Natasha has tracked him down and it doesn't look like the man known as Ronin is anything like the Avengers we used to know because he's taken on a new persona and seems...haunted.
Whether or not The Avengers can put him back on the right track remains to be seen but after not making any sort of appearance in Avengers: Infinity War, here's hoping he gets some decent screentime.
Peggy Carter
We see Peggy in a locket that Steve is carrying here and, as you might expect, speculation is now running rampant that this is a sign Captain America will be reunited with his former love when he travels back in time. How will that work? Honestly, it's impossible to say as of right now but it's hard not to hope these two will finally get that dance they promised each other during World War II.
Ant-Man
After being left trapped in the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-Man and The Wasp, Scott Lang makes a surprise return here as he arrives outside the New Avengers Facility looking for the team.
Some fans have pointed out that this seems to be archived footage but Black Widow specifically says that this happening right here, right now. Somehow, Scott has found his way out of the Quantum Realm and he very much seems to be a man with a plan. The question is, just how many Time Vortexes did he travel through before landing in the present day?
Then again, we still don't know if Ant-Man really has ended up visiting different time periods!