There’s a case to be made that Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame mark an achievement that’s pretty unique in cinematic history. Sure, other franchises have done the whole “two movies to end the series” thing, but the scale on which the films operate leaves, say, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the dust (pun intended). It’s even more impressive when you remember that both juggernaut productions were filmed back to back across 2017 and 2018, with reshoots even spilling into this year.
Now that they’ve come out the other end of the long, hard process, directors Joe and Anthony Russo are able to reflect on their mammoth accomplishment, and it sounds like they regret making it so difficult for themselves. While speaking with CinemaBlend, the brothers were asked what they would change about the process and Anthony wasted no time in replying: “We wouldn’t shoot them back-to-back,” he said with a laugh.
Given how taxing it must have been to keep track of the development of both movies, how did the Russos handle it? Well, Anthony went on to say that he and his brother had the challenge of thinking of them as two distinct pieces. In fact, he channeled his inner Thanos by saying they had to work on “finding a balance.”
“I think the challenge for all of us was finding the balance between the two films. Because each film is so complex on its own that sometimes considering both of them was a bit overwhelming. So we looked for opportunities in the process to separate the two so that our brains could be fully focused on the narrative. While the films have a connection, as the Marvel films do, they are distinct stories.”
We have been told before that IW and Endgame would be more separate than perhaps fans are expecting, though Marvel hasn’t yet come clean about how exactly that is. So far, the trailer and TV spot that’ve been released have emphasized the fact that the upcoming film follows on directly from the Decimation rather than focusing on what’s different. Though set photos and rumors have given us a flavor. Two-word hint: time travel.
The end of the MCU as we know it is coming when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th.