Avengers: Infinity War had an impossible job in attempting to give each of the 30-odd major characters an equal share of the screentime. So, what it did was pick a handful of heroes to hold the bulk of the action on their shoulders. This made for a more cohesive film as a whole, but it did mean that a few of our favorites were left with surprisingly little to do – including two of the original heroes: Captain America and Black Widow. The good news, though, is that the pair will have a larger presence in next year’s Avengers 4.
Infinity War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely spoke to The New York Times recently about the gargantuan process of scripting such a massive blockbuster and something they clarified is that Marvel Studios gave them a blank slate when it came to deciding which characters should carry the movie and how their subplots developed. That said, Markus explained that they kept a close eye on which heroes they were using a lot of in the first film, so that they could give others more to do later.
The scribe said, “we’re never writing without knowing where the end goes.” Which means that, while Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff arguably get the short end of the stick in Infinity War, they “have a much bigger role to play in that second film.” McFeely then added that: “We gave ourselves license to pay off later.”
This is good to hear, though is also pretty much what we expected by the end of the movie. Infinity War’s final moments promise that the original line-up of the team will all get larger chunks of the screentime in Avengers 4, as many of the scene-stealing second generation heroes have been killed off by Thanos’ snap. What’s more, rumors suggest we might even get several versions of a few of the heroes, including Cap, as evidence points to the Avengers having to travel back in time to meet their past selves.
Chalk that up as speculation for now, but while we wait to learn more, feel free to share all your theories and thoughts in the comments section down below.