The title for Avengers: Endgame was being predicted in certain corners of the internet months before the announcement came by way of last month’s trailer drop, but given Marvel Studios’ reputation for planning ahead, it comes as little surprise to hear that Kevin Feige and his team knew what they’d be calling 2019’s biggest blockbuster long before any of us had an inkling.
Feige was attending this year’s Golden Globe Awards, which saw Black Panther competing in several categories, when he was asked by MTV News about when exactly the title was decided upon. As it turns out, the name of the Avengers: Infinity War sequel was determined in the project’s earliest stages.
“It was in place before we started developing the movie,” Feige says. “Or just as we were developing it, yes.”
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige on when #AvengersEndgame got its title, how #CaptainMarvel is looking, the Disney-Fox merger, and more from the #GoldenGlobes red carpet pic.twitter.com/pSE7lgNM4U
— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) January 7, 2019
Seeing how development began on Endgame and Infinity War at the same time, this implies that the Avengers 4 title was known before shooting began on the Russo Brothers’ last film, and sure enough, Feige confirms that Doctor Strange was intentionally given his “endgame” line as a tease for the next movie:
“So Doctor Strange says that line because we knew it was the title.”
Though it was reported last year that Endgame went through multiple title changes throughout 2018, Feige’s latest statements validate our suspicions that other rumored subtitles like “Annihilation” and “Infinity Gauntlet” were, at most, fake names to throw off the fans and leakers.
Speaking of keeping secrets, Feige also confirmed the popular prediction that the marketing for Endgame wouldn’t show us much beyond the first 15 or 20 minutes of the film.
“I’d call it somewhat accurate,” Feige said. “As was the case with a lot of our films, this one in particular, being able to generate a lot of excitement without giving away one of the many, many, many secrets. I think the Disney marketing team is the best in the world and we’ll be able to pull it off.”
As it stands, the Disney marketing team doesn’t exactly face an uphill battle in winning over moviegoers after the ending to Infinity War left plenty of viewers pumped enough for the sequel. The real question though is whether Avengers: Endgame can live up to the hype, and we’ll find out when the film hits theaters on April 26th, 2019.
