Stephen McFeely

‘Endgame’ writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely say one of the most popular fan theories about their film is accurate.

The Russos and Markus and McFeely have given different answers when asked to explain what happened in the film’s final scenes.

Our interview with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely also discusses their favorite characters to write and how much actors’ schedules affect their writing.

For all we’ve seen and heard about Thanos as, like, the biggest villain, like, ever, we really don’t know much about him in regards to the MCU. We know he was behind Loki’s initial invasion of Earth, but the Avengers don’t. We know he wants the Infinity Gauntlet to rule the Universe, but they don’t. We know the little shiny MacGuffins our heroes have been picking up here and there on their adventures are Infinity Stones, but they don’t. Which creates an interesting situation when it comes to how all of this is going to be revealed.

We already know that the soon-to-be-retitled Avengers: Infinity War will unite much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, boasting the studio’s largest lineup to date. And while James Gunn has no plans to bring other MCU characters over for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, directors Joe and Anthony Russo have hinted that Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord will appear in Infinity War — but he might not be the only Guardian to make that jump.

After two phases of superhero films, Marvel’s filmmaking engine has become rather efficient, which is why you shouldn’t expect to see much in the way of deleted scenes when Captain America: Civil War eventually hits DVD and Blu-ray. Still, cuts are inevitable, and according to the directors and screenwriters, there are at least a couple of notable — if somewhat minor — moments that didn’t make the theatrical version.

Attention now turning from Civil War to Avengers: Infinity War (or whatever they end up calling it), time and time again Marvel brass have tempered expectations as to whether the climactic MCU event will finally bridge the gulf between movie and TV. Not likely, it seems, as writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely reveal the “nearly impossible” challenge in logistics.

Captain America: Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo previously sent the internet into a slight tizzy when they revealed that their epic two-part Avengers: Infinity War will have something like 67 characters. That would seem like a lot of superheroes, if you took the Russo brothers’ comments literally. And just in case you did, Infinity War scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are here to assure you that’s not actually the case, but there is one character in particular who will be in the film — and he’ll have a much bigger role.

It’s well-documented at this point that Marvel movies take no cue from the multiple TV tie-ins, most always the other way around, though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3's worldwide introduction of Marvel’s Inhumans seemed at least potentially worth a mention. Not so, apparently, as Captain America: Civil War’s writers had no awareness of the TV branch in crafting Cap’s international adventure.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have been crucial to the MCU, writing screenplays for the Captain America films in addition to Thor: The Dark World. It makes sense that the two would continue their work well into Phase 3. Not only are they re-teaming with Joe and Anthony Russo for Captain America: Civil War, but the pair will now also write both parts of Avengers: Infinity War, making them the rug that ties the room of the MCU together.