Spoilers are coming for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven't caught the movie yet, it's still running in theaters!
Avengers: Infinity War has been out for several weeks, now, and we've already dissected most of the major plot points, as well as theorized about what could happen during Avengers 4. Yet, there's still plenty of fun things to talk about related to Marvel's latest venture, including things like Easter Eggs, or in this case, Easter Eggs that almost were a thing. If you watched Avengers: Infinity War, you may have noticed the movie features a plot point where the New York superheroes are trying to get ahold of Captain America, and at one point his number -- 678-136-7092 -- flashes on the screen. Apparently, the number was by design, and the Russo brothers had a whole plan for it. According to co-director Joe Russo,
We actually had intended to create a fake voicemail from Steve Rogers. For the people that left the theater and called that number, they would get a voicemail from Steve Rogers.
So, if you were one of the savvy Avengers: Infinity War viewers who were able to remember the number, you were probably hoping that calling the number would lead you down a rabbit hole to Steve Rogers and yield some fun results. Initially, both Joe and Anthony Russo wanted that moment to be a fun Easter Egg for fans. Eagle-eyed viewers could call the number and totally have an interactive moment with Captain America. It's a call-to-action type of viral campaign that other movies have done in the past. For example, the Carrie remake a few years ago asked fans to call a number to "learn what happened to Carrie." The Infinity War number would have been even more exciting, because it actually flashed on the screen during the movie, and would have been something that viewers could have taken home with them and talked about afterward. So what happened?
According to the interview Anthony and Joe Russo did with the Huffington Post, it was Disney's legal team that put the kabosh on the viral phone number message. (This could have to do with the myriad lawsuits Disney is dealing with at any given moment, although a reason isn't explicitly given.) According to Anthony Russo, the whole thing had already been planned to a tee when the affiliated legal team decided it was a bad idea. He said:
And that number was the actual number that we were going to use. We were sort of given that number. We had it all ready to go, but legal took that away from us.
While there are plenty of other fun Easter eggs in Avengers: Infinity War, including a nod to Arrested Development, had Disney and Marvel stuck with the Steve Rogers phone number, the movie would have had a more interactive component. Perhaps, it's the type of thing the legal team will be able to give the thumbs-up to down the line, and perhaps not. In the meantime, you can catch all manner of other cool stuff in Avengers: Infinity War, which is still in theaters. In addition, here's what we know about the upcoming Avengers 4.
