Russo brothers reveal Kevin Feige planned to kill original Avengers
Although heartbreaking, Marvel's Avengers: Endgame marked the sacrifices of several iconic superheroes who helped the Avengers succeed in their battle against the Mad Titan Thanos. Fortunately, some heroes lived on to carry the mantle of the world's mightiest superheroes. However, Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo revealed recently that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige planned to kill off all original Avengers in the film.
Marvel Studios president wanted all original 'Avengers' heroes to die
According to the Russo brothers, Kevin Feige reportedly wanted all original Avengers, including the big three—Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor—to die. During Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, the director duo explained, "We were acutely aware coming off of Infinity War that we had put them in a position Kevin did actually pitch at one point taking all the OGs off the board."
Directors felt decision would be 'too aggressive,' decided otherwise
Speaking about Feige's idea, the brothers felt it would be "too aggressive" and that "the audience wouldn't be able to process it." Eventually, they decided that picking "one or two characters" who would make great sacrifices throughout the film might give moments "where the action could stop." "You could have emotional catharsis and then continue with the narrative and then have more emotional catharsis."
Plan was to sacrifice Avengers to save the world
Apparently, Feige pitched the idea during the early days of Endgame. "It was like Toy Story 3 where they should all jump into a fire in order to save the universe," the brothers elaborated further. "We thought you have to step out storytelling on something of this scale, so we weren't quite sure how the math would add up to get to that (sic)."
Watch the full interview here
The Avengers will return for another adventure
In another recent interview with Vanity Fair, the director duo revealed how Iron Man (2008) director Jon Favreau was against the idea of killing Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in Endgame and asked, "Are you guys really going to kill Iron Man?" On another note, the Avengers will return for another adventure in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will release on May 2, 2025.
