Avengers: Infinity War starred an ensemble MCU cast but the ending took a devastating turn as Thanos snapped to turn many characters to dust using the Infinity Gauntlet. These characters include fan-favorite Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (late Chadwick Boseman). Now, it has been revealed that Marvel had planned their deaths in quite a different way which has no relation with their paychecks.
Given that the duo had already gained a devoted fandom for their respective characters, many wondered about their death in the 2018 movie.
MCU Actors’ Fate in Avengers: Infinity War Was Decided With a Game
As per the book, MCU: The Reigns of Marvel Studios, Avengers: Infinity War writer, Stephen McFeely gave an insight into how they decided to let specific characters turn to dust due to Thanos’s snap.
During the process of planning the movie, the movie writers had somewhat similar but larger cards than baseball-style cards. It had all the MCU characters’ names and photographs which were available for the film. At its back, the card depicted the salary and contractual status of the actor portraying the comic character.
McFeely mentioned,
“We didn’t know how much [money] each actor made, but it had either one dollar sign or up to five dollar signs.”
The book mentioned that the cards were often shuffled or pinned to the whiteboard. However, they played just one game which was titled, Who Lives and Who Dies.
As the group decided on something, they would most likely keep it the same. It meant that a character whom they decided to finish off in the movie would have likely remained the same despite the financial information written on the back of the cards.
Kevin Feige Revealed a Major Factor Which Affected Avengers: Infinity War’s Characters Ending Arc
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige commented that the death of these comic characters was based on what “would be the most heartbreaking.”
For the unversed, the movie features several deaths and significant casualties among both major and minor characters. Thanos successfully acquires all the six Infinity Stones. In the end, Josh Brolin’s character snapped his fingers causing half of the lives in the universe to vanish.
This event led to several main and supporting characters turning to dust including Chadwick Boseman‘s Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Bucky Barnes among others.
The book mentioned that T’Challa, who took on the mantle of the Black Panther was the “new audience favorite” which made him the perfect character to evaporate. As for Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers would be devasted. With the same logic, Peter Parker was let go in the end as it would be an eye-opening event for Tony Stark, who shared a close bond with the web-slinger.
As per the book, the filmmakers kept all six original Avengers alive to wrap up their arc in the Avengers: Endgame. Eventually, the 2019 movie concluded the most “ambitious battle” in the history of the MCU. Both the movies were a huge financial success as both the movies surged past $2 billion at the worldwide box office.
Both movies are available on Disney+.
