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Avengers: Infinity War writers say Marvel Studios gave them carte blanche to kill whoever they wanted

Mad about who died in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War? You can blame the screenwriters directly, as it turns out

It’s been nearly a decade since Marvel Studios released Avengers: Infinity War, and the film still holds up well today. Few Marvel movies (or any movies in general) have come close to the shocking ending of Infinity War where Thanos killed half of the universe’s population, including various Marvel heroes like Black Panther and Spider-Man. And even before the famous snap, other characters like Loki, Gamora, and Vision met their end.

How did Marvel Studios decide who would die? According to Avengers: Infinity War screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the studio gave them free rein to kill whoever served the story best.

“I think really all we were handed was Thanos, which necessitated the use of the Infinity Stones,” Christopher Markus said during an interview with Vanity Fair. Markus went on to say that Marvel wasn’t picky about which characters would be killed off: “If you want to get rid of people you can, but you’re under no obligation to just kill them willy nilly. And that was just about all [they said]," he explained.

 “This is not to say we picked people at random to kill,” Stephen McFeely adds. “Not any more than we do on a daily basis,” Markus says.

“And there were a bunch of obvious implications from that. Namely we could bring in the Guardians because two of Thanos’ stepdaughters were on that ship. It could be anybody from anywhere, and in fact, it should be,” Markus says.

Avengers: Infinity War is available to stream on Disney+.


Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

Joshua Lapin-Bertone

Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.

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