[Spoilers] Director Joe Russo answers pivotal questions about ‘Avengers: Endgame’ plot

Warning: Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame ahead.

Joe Russo was on hand to answer questions about the plot of Avengers: Endgame (which just had a record-setting 1.2 billion dollar opening weekend) with a Chinese website on Monday afternoon and some of the answers revolving around divergent timelines, the properties of the Soul Stone, ending credit ambiguity and future Marvel movies were very telling and should shed plenty of light on the lion’s share of post-movie discussions shared between attentive fans.

Peggy Carter was probably already married and in her mid 40s in 1970, in that case what year was it that Captain America went back to dance with her?

A: We can’t answer it for now, this is a story that happened in an alternate reality. Maybe it will be revealed in the future.

​Did Captain America’s action at the end affect the timeline? Does that mean there was a time where two CA existed in a same universe?

A: To me, CA’s action in the end wasn’t the fact he wanted to change anything, it’s more like me has made a choice. He chose to go back to past and lived with the one he loved for the rest of his life. The time travel in this movie created an alternate reality. He lived a completely different life in that world. We don’t know how exactly his life turned out, but I’d like to believe he still helped many others when they were needed in that world. Yes, there were two CA in that reality, it’s just like what Hulk said, what happened in the past has already happened. If you go back to past, you simply created a new reality. The characters in this movie created new timeline when they went back to the past, but it had no effect to the prime universe. What happened in the past 22 movies was still canon.

Marvel Studios

Why Iron Man has to be the one to do the final snap, couldn’t the people like Thor, Star-Lord or Captain Marvel whom all previously have handled the power of Infinity Stones done it instead?

A: Thor in this movie couldn’t do it, only Hulk was strong enough to do the snap without dying. We are still not sure whether Captain Marvel can also withstand all the power of Infinity Stones at once. The reason we choose to let Iron Man do it in the end was because he was the closest one to Thanos at the time. In all the futures Doctor Strange foresee, Iron Man was the only one who could get close to Thanos and do the snap. People usually think the death of a hero is a horrible tragedy. But we think this is different. When his death was able to bring back hope, to save half of the universe, then his death was powerful and meaningful. We shouldn’t feel too sad or angry about it.

​In both IW and EG, the heroes tried their back to take the glove away from Thanos, so why didn’t Doctor Strange just cut off Thanos’ hand with his ability?

A: Thanos’ skin is almost impenetrable, we don’t know whether Doctor Strange had the capability to do it. If he failed to cut it on time, Thanos would still able to do the snap. Doctor Strange realized this issue during his millions of test runs.

​Why did you make Thor fat? Did Chris also become fat for the role or it was done through CG?

A: It was mostly CG’d. Thor suffered more loss than anyone else, he has been living in constant pain and regret.

​ Was old Cap played Evans using make up? Or it was also post production CG?

A: 95% CG, 5% make up. But the voice was 100% Evans, no modification for that.

​Can you get the soul your sacrificed for the Soul Stone back when you return it?

A: No, the process is irreversible. Even if you have returned it to its original location, you wouldn’t be able to get the person back. In fact, it’s not really returning the stone, more like put it back properly. The tribute soul for the soul stone will forever be sealed in that place, therefore Black Widow is gone forever.

​How would Cap react when he encounter Red Skull when he returned the stone?

A: Red Skull would probably put the soul stone back to its location, and wait for the next unfortunate stone seeker to make sacrifice. Cap and Red Skull probably won’t fight. It’s because it’s his mission to return the stone to its original place. The Red Skull is also no longer the same Red Skull from FA. He is more like a ghost, you could almost say he’s a completely different entity now. He only exists to guard the stone, his past conscious may or may not exist anymore.

​In IW, Thanos used the time stone to reverse the time so he could the already dead Vision, and it didn’t cause any time parallax. Why did no one use time stone to save Iron Man’s life in EG?

A: It’s because even if you save Iron Man, it will still not change the fact that Thanos will eventually win the war. Among the 14 million possibilities that Doctor Strange has seen, Iron Man’s sacrifice is a must for that one win scenario.

​How did Thanos bring his army to the future?

A: There is a guy called Maw in his army, he was a great wizard. Thanos himself was a brilliant genius as well. Those two easily reverse engineered and mass produced Pym Particles.

​What about those people who got dusted? What did those five years mean to them? Why didn’t they grow older when undusted?

A: Yes, those people whom was lucky to survive the snap are 5 years older than the people who just got back. The reason Spider Man saw his friend again in high school at the end was simply because his friends was unfortunately also dusted like Spider Man was. Of course, there are people in his grade whom didn’t die and they are probably already in colleges by now. To those dusted people, they had no conscious in these past 5 years. They didn’t know what happened. It’s as if they had just woke up from a long sleep. The only one who was aware about how many years has passed was Doctor Strange, because he has already seen that when he was time mediating on Titan. Parker’s reunion with Ned was a touching moment. There are also people whom indeed moved on but suddenly was reunited with their lost ones. Yeah it’s kind a complicated world now.

​What if the mouse didn’t press the button to turn on the quantum machine, wouldn’t that stop EG from happening? Isn’t this a bit too much of a coincidence?

A: Yes, the MOUSE SAVED THE UNIVERSE. Among the many realities in those 14 millions possible futures Doctor Strange foresee, the mouse failed to press button and thus the heroes failed in those futures.

​EG’s plot, is it a parallel universe or a closed time loop?

A: Nope, not a time loop. Both Ancient One and Hulk were right. You can’t change the future by simply going back to past. But it’s possible to create a different alternate future. It’s not butterfly effect. Every decision you made in the past could potentially create a new timeline. For example, the old Cap at the end movie, he lived his married life in a different universe from the main one. He had to make another jump back to the main universe at the end to give the shield to Sam.

​There were some metal smashing sound when the movie ended. Was that an easter egg? or just a tribute to Iron Man, or maybe an implication that Iron Man will return?

A: It was our way to say goodbye to him.

​Why there was no Iron Man’s body in his funeral, only his arc reactor? And is there any secret messages for bring back that kid from Iron Man 3?

A: We just feel that he should participate in Iron Man’s funeral. As for whether he will appear again in future, who knows.

​Why didn’t Black Widow get a funeral as well?

A: Did you forget when the heroes where mourning for her after when they returned from past? Maybe her funeral happened off screen. Maybe it will be shown in future installment, because there are still tons of stories in MCU that are waiting to be tell.

—-

Does Joe Russo answer any of your nagging questions in the interview? What other questions do you have about Avengers: Endgame? Sound off in the comments.

Join the AIPT Patreon

Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:

• ❌ Remove all ads on the website
• 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
• 📗 Access to our monthly book club
• 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
• 💥 And more!

Sign up today

Sign up for our newsletter

Exclusive previews, reviews, and the latest news every week, delivered to your inbox.

Leave this field empty if you're human: