Avengers: Endgame writers discuss setting up the arcs of the original heroes

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely talk on how they chose the character arcs for the original heroes in Avengers: Endgame. Spoilers lie ahead.

Avengers: Endgame marked the end of this era in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the beginning of a new one. With this, the film expanded upon and closed the arcs of several of the veteran heroes. It took a lot of time for screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to do this in a way they thought was fitting. And they have a number of reasons for taking these characters in some new directions.

In an interview with The New York Times, the veteran writing duo spoke at length about their work on Avengers: Endgame, including the arcs of the original heroes. McFeely revealed that the two started writing while they were still working on Captain America: Civil War. Interestingly, the classic Marvel What If? comics served as a guide for creating arcs like Natasha becoming reclusive and Tony starting a family:

"“Chris and I wrote a master document while we were shooting “Civil War,” and one of the things we were interested in exploring is, remember the What If comics? Well, this is our what if. If you lost, Thor becomes fat. Natasha becomes a shut-in. Steve becomes depressed. Tony gets on with his life. Hulk is a superhero.”"

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Markus added to this by comparing the murderous path that Clint Barton is on as Ronin to the the quest Thor was on in Infinity War:

"“Clint becomes a murdering maniac. When we were spitballing for “Endgame,” we started with, Thor’s on a mission of vengeance. And then we were like, he was on a mission of vengeance in the last movie. This is all this guy ever does! And fails, all the time. Let’s drive him into a wall and see what happens.”"

Of course, one of the most interesting developments was that Bruce Banner and the Hulk have merged to become who fans know as “Professor Hulk” in the comics. As it turns out, this was initially going to happen in Infinity War. But as Markus puts it, it just wasn’t the right time for it to happen in the story:

"“There was a time when Banner became Smart Hulk in the first movie. It was a lot of fun, but it came at the wrong moment. It was an up, right when everyone else was down.”"

Many fans were likely surprised at the circumstances of some of the original Avengers at the start of Endgame. The revelations of Tony having a child with Pepper and Thor letting himself go were probably the biggest. While unexpected, they made for some interesting story points and several emotional moments later in the film.