Avengers: Endgame is about as cathartic a franchise capper as it possibly could be. The film had the unenviable job of not only rounding out the entirety of the Infinity Saga, which includes every MCU movie and multiple separate series, but it also had to lay the groundwork for the next phase of releases, while providing satisfactory conclusions to the stories of the original Avengers line-up.
That is certainly a tall order, and considering the glowing fan reactions, the positive critical responses and the record breaking box office run, it seems that Endgame lived up to all the expectations. But just because the folks at Marvel Studios pulled off the epic feat doesn’t mean they weren’t worried or looking for inspiration beforehand.
During a recent interview with Empire, MCU mastermind Kevin Feige opened up about some of the concerns regarding the production. Of note, Feige brought up how it was important that they get the character send-offs just right, and pointed to 2017’s Logan as the perfect example, stating:
We saw Logan like the audience did, in a theater having nothing to do with the making of that film and went, ‘oh my god, what an amazing ending for Hugh as this character.’ And there are only a handful of examples where an actor so associated with a character can go out perfectly. That’s what we desperately wanted to give Robert, and that was what our focus was on.
And while there were some quibbles with the film in the end, such as the lack of closure and recognition regarding the death of Black Widow, these are few and far between. Besides, the character is getting a solo outing which will flesh her out considerably.
As for Tony Stark, he was the most prolific hero in the MCU and was arguably the glue holding the sprawling franchise together. Given Robert Downey Jr.’s placement as the poster boy of the cinematic universe, it’s good to know that the crew behind Avengers: Endgame were adamant that his final performance be moving and on the level of Hugh Jackman’s swan song in the role of Wolverine.
