MacGuffins are aplenty in blockbuster films including the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Avengers in 2012 had one but years later and Avengers: Infinity War took it up to six with the Infinity Stones. It took eighteen films to built it up throughout the duration of the MCU and it took its time with it by introducing Infinity War‘s primary antagonist. Thanos’ acquisition of all 6 Infinity Stones caused a ripple in the MCU and its effects were witnessed at the end of the film. Infinity War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely however, would have changed this aspect of the film if they could.
If you’re unaware of the film or fiction in general term ‘MacGuffin’, it’s basically a plot device typically in the form of a person, place or desired object that the protagonist needs to acquire. Not only is it present in blockbuster films like the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark but also in indie films like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Usually, it’s just one but Infinity War took it multiple steps further.
Markus and McFeely spoke to The New York Times on crafting the script for Infinity War. McFeely revealed that they had some difficulty in weaving in six Infinity Stones into the narrative. He stated:
“Had we started from scratch, we would not have chosen six damn MacGuffins. That’s not that helpful. It was difficult to get that all in.”
It is no doubt a daunting task on their part but they managed to pull it off. The MCU has relied on MacGuffins for a while now such as The Tesseract in The Avengers and The Aether in Thor: The Dark World. Unlike most films, the film ends with the villain actually acquiring the MacGuffin and unleashing its powers which in turn provided, probably… the most powerful scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Source: The New York Times
