Avengers: Endgame arrived in theaters months ago, bringing a close to the two-movie narrative that was built on the previous installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Russo Brothers did the impossible with their pair of Avengers movies, crafting a complicated story that serviced the characters and including plenty of pulse-pounding action.
Infinity War and Endgame were filmed back to back, resulting in many hours of footage-- not all of which made it to the theatrical cut. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote both blockbusters, and recently revealed a deleted sequence that came from Infinity War's epic battle on Titan. And it includes a trippy sequence courtesy of Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange.
Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus recently appeared at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H, explaining their process of writing Endgame and Infinity War. That's when they revealed that Doctor Strange was originally going to send Thanos on a psychedelic mind trip. In fact, it was going to be similar to the one that Stephen Strange experienced with The Ancient One during Doctor Strange.
In the sequence, The Mad Titan would be faced with the many crimes he'd committed in his years of murder and atrocities. Ultimately he was going to be judged by cosmic character The Living Tribunal. The character has its roots on the page of the comics, and would have deemed Thanos guilty for his crimes. Unfortunately, Josh Brolin's big purple villain eventually realized that this was just a trick by Strange, and the battle on Titan continued on.
So why was this sequence cut from Avengers: Infinity War? Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to be a concern about the blockbuster's runtime. Instead, it messed with the rhythm of that iconic battle on Titan. As Stephen McFeely just explained to the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con:
To stop it to have an LSD trip was fun but sucked the air out of the punching.
As much as it would have been awesome to see the trippy visuals of Doctor Strange translated into Avengers: Infinity War, Stephen McFeely does make a solid point. The Titan battle is a thrilling part of the film's third act, and it was exciting to see the Guardians and Avengers unite against the Mad Titan on his home planet. Stopping the action for this side quest may have ruined that iconic aspect of the movie.
Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus also shared bits of their process, including a board that outlined the Infinity Stones' path throughout the MCU.
How cool is that? Crafting the story of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame was super complicated, and this board shows how methodically the writers planned out each beat of the behemoth blockbusters.
Avengers: Endgame was recently re-released in theaters, and will also arrive for home purchase shortly. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
