Avengers: Endgame Directors Reveal Why They Sidelined Captain Marvel

Before Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, Captain Marvel was the biggest movie in the world and fans couldn’t wait to see more of Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers in the Infinity War sequel, as we all expected her to be a big part of the final act of the Infinity Saga after showing us how powerful she was in CM. It was kind of a surprise, then, when the heroine had a pretty small role in the grand scheme of things.

She turns up early on to save Tony and Nebula and then accompanies the heroes to Titan II but disappears again and for some reason, doesn’t join the Avengers on their Time Heist. She does return for the grand finale, though, joining the assembled Marvel universe to battle Thanos’ troops.

When asked why they kept her sidelined for so much of the film, co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo explained to Empire that there were a few reasons for only giving her limited screentime. To begin with, Joe said that the focus in Endgame was very much on the original six heroes.

“It was a story about the original six. That was the focus of the film, to conclude a 10-year saga about those characters. And Carol’s a fairly new character.”

Anthony then chimed in to remind us that Carol didn’t really have much of a relationship with any of the existing Avengers, which factored into their decision to keep her off screen for large chunks of time.

Carol had no depth of relationship with those other characters, which on one side is an opportunity, but also – when you have a story that’s this size – you have to work with an economy of storytelling in order to maximize the journey in the movie.

That certainly makes sense, and though she may not have been given much to do in Avengers: Endgame, Carol was still able to leave a mark. From her brave stance against Thanos early on in the movie, to a moment of levity with Peter Parker in the big finale, Captain Marvel shined each and every time she was on screen.

Besides, with a sequel for Danvers already being discussed, it’s no secret that the character’s future is as bright as the cosmic energy that birthed her powers and we have no doubt that the next phase of Marvel films will be better off for it. But for now, the focus is still very much on Avengers: Endgame, which continues to do ridiculous numbers at the box office on its journey to dethrone Avatar.