In celebration of the two-year anniversary of Avengers: Infinity War, screenwriters Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and directors, Joe and Anthony Russo took to social media for two nights during ComicBook.com’s Quarantine Watch Party. Here are some of the coolest secrets and insights they shared (per THR) about the film.
Nova Corps Initially Had a Bigger Role to Play in Infinity War
The Nova Corps was last seen in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. However, an early draft of the Infinity War script had Thanos attacking Xandar and retrieving the Power Stone from the Nova Corps’ vault. Not only that, it was Richard Rider and not Hulk who would’ve crash-landed on earth and warned the Avengers that Thanos is coming.
While this certainly would’ve been a geekier, perhaps more logical approach, if there’s one thing we learned from both the Infinity War and Endgame watch parties is that the writers and directors were focused more on making each scene resonate emotionally — the right move, in my opinion. It’s certainly a more impactful moment to see Hulk crash-land on earth and reunite with the gang.
That said, seeing as how the Nova Corps made it to the early draft of the Infinity War script, it’s not a stretch to assume that we will be seeing more of them down the line.
The Guardians of the Galaxy initially had a much smaller role
This was actually revealed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 & 2 director, James Gunn at the watch party he hosted last week. Gunn mentioned that apart from Nebula and Gamora, the rest of the gang did not have much of a role to play in Infinity War. However, as the screenplay started to develop more and more, the rest our the characters organically found their way into the story.
Gunn was consulted by the writers and directors of Infinity War on the direction of the characters. Stephen McFeely said that it was so much fun to play with James Gunn’s toys and revealed that the scene in which the Guardians meet Thor could have gone for 20 minutes but a lot had to be left on the chopping room floor.
Doctor Strange donning the Iron Man suit
The sequence where Iron Man and Spider-Man in his spanky new Iron Spider suit go to rescue Doctor Strange is a fun one. What we saw on screen wasn’t the only idea, though. In one version, Tony actually sent his nano-suit to Strange. Strange would don the iron suit, with the Eye of Agamotto at the centre of his chest rather than the Arc Reactor.
The return of Red Skull
Markus and McFeely were incredibly enthusiastic about bringing Red Skull back. The screenwriters called his inclusion an important part of this wrap-up of the first decade of the MCU. It also pretty much answers the question that had been on a lot of fans’ mind since Captain America: The First Avenger: Is Red Skull alive and will he return as a villain in future movies.
Given the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, I guess the answer is no?
Professor Hulk was supposed to be in Infinity War
“Smart (and funny) Hulk” was one of the biggest surprises of Avengers: Endgame. The scene in the diner is comedic gold. However, the writers revealed that he was originally supposed to make an emphatic appearance in Avengers: Infinity War. Mark Ruffalo, who plays Hulk in the MCU, shot a scene in which Banner argues with Hulk before compromising and bursting out of the Hulkbuster armour as Smart Hulk. Unfortunately, the scene didn’t quite work despite Ruffalo’s terrific performance.
Young Thanos on planet Titan
When Thanos says “I ignored my destiny once” in Infinity War, he’s referring to his failure to save Titan. In the comics, Thanos’ early days isn’t just an engrossing backstory, it gives us a lot of insight into how he becomes the genocidal psychopath that we know him to be. However, in the movies, young Thanos never made it past the concept art stages.
