Avengers: Infinity War Writers Refused To Pull Their Punches
They gave you what you wanted...
SPOILERS INCOMING!
When the credits rolled on Avengers: Infinity War, that stunned silence you would have experienced in the cinema said everything about the bravery Marvel showed in that ending. How could they be THAT bold? How could they have just killed off so many heroes who were key to the plans we knew were in place for Phase 4?
Obviously, the answer for a lot of fans will be that there's no way the ending can possibly last because of who the victims were. It's not like they'd turn their back on a Black Panther movie or a Spider-Man sequel when they're so key to the next chapter of the MCU, after all.
But according to the screenwriters, that wasn't a consideration at all - in fact, the deaths were chosen precisely because of the impact they'd have.
Avengers: Infinity War co-writer Stephen McFeely spoke to Buzzfeed to reveal that they have no regrets and why they chose to go big with their victims:
“First of all, we would do it all over again. But remember, when we’re writing [Infinity War], and even shooting, there is no Black Panther movie. We don’t know it’s going to be so good, so effective, so resonant. And we had to treat all these characters the same. People who leave us [in Infinity War] are the leads of their own franchises. And Black Panther’s no different.
“We wanted that thing that happens at the end of that movie to have as much impact as possible. If you’re very carefully getting rid of your supporting cast, then it does seem like you’re pulling your punch.”
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It's a good point. In the past, Marvel have been accused of not having real stakes and only killing characters that don't matter - usually villains and occasionally supporting heroes like Phil Coulson and Quicksilver - and often reviving them anyway. In Infinity War, killing characters as well-received as Black Panther and Spider-Man was giving the fans exactly what they wanted in a perverse sort of way.
And even if (when) it's all reversed, we will still all remember how much it hurt to watch it.