With so many characters and subplots flowing through the veins of Avengers: Infinity War, viewers have but one question on their minds: what can we expect from the sequel’s finale?
Some form of cliffhanger is almost inevitable, what with Avengers 4 already in the pipeline for 2019. However that may be, Joe and Anthony Russo continue to stress that Infinity War and its so-far unnamed sequel are two very, very different movies – each with their own plot twists and three-act structures.
With that in mind, ComicBook.com asked Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the brains behind Infinity War‘s script, about the possibility of a Walking Dead-style cliffhanger, to which they replied:
Markus: “I liked that cliffhanger.”
McFeely: “That’s a water cooler…Well, yes, you will have a water cooler year. You’ll have a water cooler, year.”
Joe Russo, on the other hand, believes Avengers: Infinity War leaves the door open to Avengers 4 in the same way that Winter Solider teed things up for Captain America: Civil War. In short, don’t expect a nail-biting cliffhanger that leaves everyone on edge for a full 12 months.
I think the reaction is that in Winter Soldier and Civil War, we like complicated stories. We like stories that are in bounds. And Thanos is the toughest villain they’ve ever faced, and it’s going to cost these heroes a lot if they’re going to beat him. We like robust concepts, and so I think that when people are done with the movie, that hopefully it’s a cathartic experience for them and they feel it was a worthy finale to 10 years of filmmaking.
In closing, Anthony Russo added:
It’s serialized story-telling. The mission was to not make one long movie and get out the scissors and cut it in half. Because that’s never been the most fulfilling cinematic expression. So for us, the commitment was to try and put a beginning, middle, and end to this, and a beginning, middle, and end to that.
April 27th will signal the beginning of the end, folks. The question, really, is whether you’ll be rushing out to catch Avengers: Infinity War on day one.