Avengers: Endgame screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have perhaps one of the toughest jobs in Hollywood: writing good superhero movies. Not only are these movies seen by millions worldwide, but they're also expected to make outrageous amounts of money. The studio banks on these writers being able to pen great stories that sell. Luckily, the two are perfect for the job. They've written a number of the MCU's best features, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, its sequel, Captain America: Civil War, and last year's Avengers: Infinity War. But, while writing Endgame, they ran into a big issue.
When talking with Backstory Magazine (via Comicbook.com), the two writers explained how difficult it was to write a character (an important one, too) into a series-capping movie that filmed before that character's solo movie, even though the solo movie hit theaters first. In other words, they had to make their version of the powerful heroine consistent with her origin story before her origin story was even released. If you haven't already guessed, that character is Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel.
Co-writer Stephen McFeely commented first, saying:
Yeah, that was a... God, I can’t imagine too many people in Hollywood have had to deal with that particular issue. ... We sat with [Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck] and showed them the draft and said, ‘Here’s how she works in our movie, and here’s how she sounds. Do you think this version of her, which is a version we had to decide on for our movie, which is 20 years after the hypothetical movie you’re going to make — have we done anything that would force you to do anything you didn’t want to do previously?’ ... It was fine, but we certainly got their input.
It was important for them to get the Captain Marvel directors to approve their script because the version the latter two had in mind would eventually be the one audiences saw first.
Stephen McFeely's writing partner, Christopher Markus, followed up by explaining the creative wiggle room they ended up having.
I mean, that 20 years is both a weird thing to prompt us and a bit of a cushion in that there’s no telling what happens between the end of Captain Marvel and her appearance in our world. So, any fluctuations in character or appearance can be chalked up to the 20 years. I don’t look like I looked 20 years ago. We had to come to some consensus.
However, McFeely added, despite that "cushion" of 20 years, if Carol Danvers' behavior was 180 degrees different in Endgame vs. Captain Marvel "we were screwed."
Honestly, Markus and McFeely did a better job than they realize. Danvers sporting a new look was awesome, but the essence of her character was consistent with the all-powerful fighter we saw in her solo film.
But what do you think? How did Markus and McFeely do? Was their version spot-on or did you catch some discrepancies? Let us know in the comments below!
