The Infinity War – the MCU’s biggest event ever – finally made it to the big screen after ten years and eighteen movies of buildup. The movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe could even be compared to a television series, with two or three episodes released each year/season. It’s safe to say that 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War wouldn’t have been possible without so much backstory.
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely recently discussed the writing process and the task of tying so many details together. It wasn’t at all surprising that they felt that the Infinity Stones gave them the most trouble.
Shot from an Infinity War trailer (Marvel Studios)
Markus and McFeely remarked that dealing with six McGuffins without becoming repetitive made telling a compelling Infinity War story extremely tricky. That may explain a great deal, including why Xandar hasn’t been destroyed on screen; how the Soul Stone seemed to appear out of nowhere; and why Thanos has to wait until the very end of the movie to gather all of the stones.
Had we started from scratch, we would not have chosen six damn McGuffins. That's not that helpful. It was difficult to get that all in (The New York Times).
Nevertheless, the screenwriters succeeded in their task. Barring a couple of minor hiccups, Infinity War turned out to be one of the best Marvel films to date. Markus and McFeely nailed it, even with six McGuffins to juggle. And they did it in such a way that people who haven’t seen the previous Marvel flicks can follow the movie’s plot. The numbers bear this out: In just five weeks in theaters worldwide, the movie brought in about two billion dollars.
Where will the still-untitled sequel will take us, and what are the repercussions of the events of Infinity War? We’ll have to wait to find out!
Thanos (Marvel Studios)
