Avengers: Endgame has been an absolute beast at the box office, and over the weekend it managed to finally take down
Titanic, a movie which has held the record as the world's highest grossing (and then second highest) release for years now.
Well, there's clearly no hard feelings from director James Cameron because the filmmaker has taken to Twitter to congratulate Marvel Studios on being the ones to finally sink the movie. There is, of course, still a chance that
Avengers: Endgame will also take
Avatar's crown, but with so many big releases on the way in the coming weeks, it may ultimately fall short.
In other news, another TV spot has been released which features loads of footage from the movie's final battle, including A-Force assembling and Tony Stark's emotional reunion with Spider-Man.
Now that the movie has been in theaters for two weekends, it's easy to see why Marvel Studios isn't shying away from showing off these scenes - especially as it lessens the risk of pirated versions flooding the internet in GIF form!
Expect to both cheer and cry watching this one.
Which Avengers: Endgame rumours were true and which were bullsh*t?
Hit the "View List" button to find out!
TRUE: The Stark Gauntlet
One recurring theme in plot leaks for
Avengers: Endgame was the creation of what became known as the "Stark Gauntlet." This leaker claimed that The Hulk would be the one to wield it against the Mad Titan and that he would lose an arm in the process.
While some minor details were incorrect (the Jade Giant didn't exactly battle Thanos while wielding it), the fact that Earth's Mightiest Heroes travel into the past to collect the Infinity Stones was spot on, and it's hard to imagine that this was simple guesswork.
FALSE: Shuri Becomes The New Black Panther
Once T'Challa was dusted, fans immediately started speculating about the possibility of Shuri suiting up as the new Black Panther.
It was a nice theory (especially as we didn't find out Shuri's fate until the teaser trailer was released) but obviously incorrect, and if Marvel Studios does decide to take things in this direction, it probably won't be for a number of years as T'Challa's story is far from over.
TRUE: Pepper Potts Suits Up As Rescue
When Gwyneth Paltrow shared a behind the scenes photo from
Avengers: Endgame showing her legs in mo-cap tights, it didn't take fans any time at all to jump to the conclusion that she would be suiting up as Rescue.
Throw in some more leaked photos (and even action figures) and rumours started swirling that Rescue would make her MCU debut in this movie. Well, as we now know, that proved to be correct...even if her appearance was rather brief.
FALSE: Annhilation
With a synopsis teasing a greater threat than Thanos and that mysterious behind-the-scenes image shared by the Russo Brothers, it's no wonder that one site incorrectly claimed that
Avengers: Annihilation was a title being considered by Marvel Studios for the movie.
This inevitably led to speculation that Annihilus would be making an appearance (Ego was another Fox-owned character they were able to use so it wasn't too much of a stretch), but none of this proved to be correct and the filmmakers recently confirmed that the only other title they considered for this epic finale was
Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet.
TRUE: Katherine Langford's Mysterious Character
After seeing
Avengers: Endgame, it would have been easy to dismiss this one as being false because Katherine Langford was nowhere to be seen in the superhero ensemble.
Well, a couple of days ago, the Russo Brothers revealed that her scenes were cut and she was indeed set to play an older version of Morgan Stark (which is what the rumour claimed). She would have appeared before Tony after the Snap - just like the young Gamora in
Avengers: Infinity War - but test audiences found it too confusing and that led to it being scrapped.
TRUE: Some Major Plot Details
Last December, a seemingly random Twitter account shared a number of huge Avengers: Endgame details and we all figured they were completely made up! Among his claims were Thor putting a permanent end to Thanos, Stan Lee appearing in the 1970s, the God of Thunder's new look, and Captain America saying "Hail HYDRA!"
Needless to say, this was all dismissed as nonsense because it sounded too far-fetched to be true, but it ended up being 99% accurate and was clearly based on legitimate leaks.
FALSE: A Cameo From The Eternals
Avengers: Endgame obviously didn't feature a post-credits scene, but one usually reliable source claimed that The Eternals would more than likely make some sort of cameo appearance right at the end of the movie. Well, while it was a nice theory and all, that movie hasn't even started shooting yet and so it was simply never going to happen, especially when the project is still in the casting stages.
FALSE: No More Guardians Of The Galaxy
The same leaker who provided that accurate information about the Stark Gauntlet also claimed that Earth's Mightiest Heroes' decision to change the past would indeed change the present, with the Guardians no longer forming as a result.
While what the characters did in 2014 would have meant that the team never came together, that's not a plot thread which is going to be explored in the MCU-proper - but perhaps the creation of that alternate timeline will come into play in the Multiverse!
FALSE: An Army From Hel
In
Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor had a very weird vision which seemingly resulted in him visiting Hel and coming face to face with dead Asgardians, including Heimdall (and Loki in a deleted scene).
This resulted in rumours that the defeated Thor would have looked to take the fight to Thanos by recruiting an army from Hela's realm which would have evened the odds against the Mad Titan. Based on set photos and other pieces of information we saw, it's easy to see where this rumour came from but hard to believe that it was something Marvel Studios ever actually considered.
TRUE: Nebula Vs. Nebula
Rumours of cameo appearances from the likes of Justin Hammer and Quicksilver may have been nonsense, but what initially sounded like an equally hard to believe rumour - that Nebula would battle her past self - ended up being correct.
This didn't quite confirm time-travel but it did lead to a lot of speculation about what we should expect from the movie, and was a very cool moment.
FALSE: Tony Stark Is Kang The Conqueror
This was a weird one and, well, downright ridiculous. It was said that Tony Stark's trip through time would have led to his future self becoming a villain and that he would have taken on the Kang the Conqueror persona. There have been plenty of stories in the comics that are similar to this (see: Iron Lad), and it would have been interesting to see.
However, it would not have been the right way to end the character's story in the MCU, as it was far more fitting for him to go out a hero.
Continue reading below for some big Avengers: Endgame rumours from the Russo Brothers!
What Was It Like Shooting Robert Downey Jr.'s Final Scenes As Iron Man?
Avengers: Endgame features the shocking death of Tony Stark after he uses the Infinity Stones to wipe out Thanos and his army. Asked what it was like to shoot Robert Downey Jr.'s final scenes as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Anthony shed some light on how it all went down.
"Joe and I always say Robert is the hardest-working actor we've ever encountered. He is very dedicated to his craft and puts an enormous amount of his psychic energy into his performance. As you can imagine, this character is as much of an iconic experience for him as it is for anybody in the [audience]. That shot where he says “I am Iron Man” and snaps his fingers was the very last shot of the entire movie. We shot that back in January [during the final reshoots] and we all walked away from the movie after he performed that moment. Oddly enough, we shot it in Raleigh Studios in L.A. where 12 years earlier on an adjacent stage, he’d done his screen test for “Iron Man.” So it was really a sense of completion and [coming] full circle."
That must have been an emotional day and we'll hopefully get some behind the scenes footage from that day on the movie's set when the Blu-ray is released a little later this year.
Is Loki Alive After Escaping With The Tesseract?
Avengers: Infinity War kicks off with Loki being murdered by Thanos but during the course of
Avengers: Endgame, the God of Mischief manages to escape with the Tesseract back in 2012.
So, does that explain how he's alive and well for that upcoming Disney+ TV series. Well, yes, but not quite how you might expect.
"Loki could absolutely still be alive in an alternate timeline," Anthony teases, once again hinting at a Multiverse made up of different timelines.
How Long Have Captain America And Iron Man's Endings Been Planned?
While the way things wrap up for both Captain America and Iron Man was a surprise, we've been hearing reports for a long time now that Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. were planning to leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe after
Avengers: Endgame. So, how long did the Russos have their respective endings mapped out?
"About three years," Joe Russo reveals.
"The first thing we did when we sat down to figure out the story we were going to tell was decide on the end of the movie. We had to know where “Endgame” was going in order to tell the best story possible. It’s how you maximize the drama and character architecture."
How Do They Feel About Those Record-Breaking Box Office Numbers?
Avengers: Endgame has broken more box office records than we can count and after passing
Titanic this weekend, it's now nipping at the heels of
Avatar. So, how have the filmmakers reacted to those numbers? Well, as you might expect, they're just grateful to moviegoers for embracing the film.
"For us, the box office is really just reflective of the audience’s appreciation. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we love these characters and these stories. We grew up on the mythology, collecting comic books. And these were the movies that we wanted to see, and now we’ve gotten to make them. As kids, we walked out of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” or “Indiana Jones” having had really profound spectacle, pop culture, cinematic experiences. We really wanted and were committed to giving that experience to audiences around the world with this movie."
Why Was Harley Keener At Tony Stark's Funeral?
"We were thinking about who was important in Tony’s life, just on a very grounded level," Joe explains.
"And that was a character who’d shared a special moment in time with Tony. It felt organic for him to be there." In previous interviews, it's been made clear that this appearance isn't necessarily setting up a future for the character and it definitely seems like it was
just a cameo.
Were All Those Actors Really Present For That Scene?
Talking of Iron Man's funeral, the guest list is huge and you have to believe that some camera trickery was involved given how many actors were on set, right?
"They were all actually there and that was perhaps the most [difficult] shot in all four movies that we've done for Marvel," Joe says.
"We spent the entire day before we got them all out there with doubles [practicing] executing that shot."
Do The Filmmakers Understand The Time-Travel Rules They Set Down?
Ever since
Avengers: Endgame was released, there's been a lot of confusion over the use of time-travel and whether the ideas presented by the movie actually work. Well, when the directors were asked if they're fully on board with how it was explained or whether there are still loopholes even for them, Anthony reiterated the idea of alternate timelines.
"In the movie, the Hulk is very explicit about what our rules are, which is you cannot change the present by altering the past," he reveals.
"All you can do by going to the past — and for a character like Cap[tain America], living in the past — is create an alternate future. So this is a world in which alternate timelines exist."
How Challenging Did They Find Introducing Time-Travel To The MCU?
Time-travel is a confusing concept at the best of times, so what sort of challenges came with presenting that idea in a way that hasn't previously been explored on the big screen? Well, according to Anthony, it was all about moving away from what Back to the Future did all those years ago.
"'Back to the Future' is one of our favorite films, and the rules of that movie are ubiquitous; they have informed pop culture for 40 years. And we wanted to do something different. We didn't realize how complicated it would be to create new rules and have people go with us, but we learned very early on in the test screenings that people are really committed to those “Back to the Future” rules — if you shoot yourself, you should die. We spoke with a few physicists, and there’s a lot of theories about how time travel could work. We chose the multiverse theory. We learned very early on in the test screenings that people are really committed to those ‘Back to the Future’ rules — if you shoot yourself, you should die."
How Does It Feel To Bring An End To This Chapter Of The MCU?
It's no secret that
Avengers: Endgame brings an end to over a decade's worth of storytelling but the pressure was on the Russo Brothers to make it a satisfying conclusion for comic book fans.
So, how did it feel to be responsible for wrapping up this chapter of Marvel Studios history?
"It’s a really complicated mix of emotions for us," Anthony says. "This is among our favorite work we’ve ever done as filmmakers, so to get to the end of it, there's a sadness to walk away. But at the same time, we really firmly believe that all good stories have to have stakes and endings."
"So for us to have the opportunity to tell the final chapter in that [22-movie long] story was an amazing opportunity and a privilege. Also, it was a tough story to tell. I think for Joe and I, this is a moment where we’ve lost control of the movie and we’ve turned it over to audiences, and there’s a sense of relief in that for sure."
What Were The Biggest Challenges With Revisiting The MCU's Past?
The movie revisits a number of past releases so just how challenging was that from a filmmaking perspective?
"Probably just re-creating the sequences in a way that was accurate," Joe explains.
"[Chris] Pratt dancing [on Vormir], that’s some footage from seven years ago [in “Guardians of the Galaxy”] and some footage from him now and we had to intercut it."
"People change, their looks change, so we really had to re-create everyone’s look. When Downey is watching the Avengers in that final moment with Loki where he says, “I’ll have that drink now,” that’s all of our current actors being made up to look like they did in the first “Avengers.” It was fun for us to create a different perspective for the audience."
"[While] “Guardians” opens up with this really joyful sequence where Quill is dancing his way through an alien planet," he concludes, "the truth of it may have been that that was all in his mind and he’s really just another guy singing out of tune to his Walkman."
How Do They Feel About Thor: The Dark World?
Thor: The Dark World is one of the worst reviewed Marvel Studios movies (even though it was nowhere near panned by critics) so does its inclusion in
Avengers: Endgame point to the Russo Brothers actually perceiving it as being an underrated release?
"Well, it’s hard to judge," Anthony responds.
"This is a mosaic of storytelling. It’s an experiment in narrative that has spanned over 10 years and 11 franchises. I think it’s hard to judge anything until the ending has been told. It’s like reading a book and going “I didn’t care for that chapter” before you get to the end of the book."
"Sometimes when you get to the end, it gives you perspective on all the different chapters. So hopefully people can go back and see that movie in a different light now, based on its significance to Thor and his character."
Why Was It Important To Give The MCU's Women Chance To Shine?
During the final battle, the women of the Marvel Cinematic Universe come together to take the fight to Thanos. So, why was it important to the filmmakers to give the heroes that moment?
"Looking back on the entire road that the MCU has traveled, it just struck us how many amazing female characters have entered the [landscape]," Anthony explains.
"I think it was really, for us, a moment of celebration and acknowledgment of the intensity and empowerment in that."
Many thanks to The Los Angeles Times for the quotes used throughout this article.