Movies

'Avengers: Endgame': All The Coolest Trivia, Photos, & Videos From The Watch Party With The Directors And Writers

Avengers: Endgame Watch Party
By Ethan Anderton

Last night brought one of the best watch parties yet since the coronavirus pandemic quarantine began. Directors Anthony & Joe Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely hopped online to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Avengers: Endgame by live-tweeting the entire movie. The filmmakers posted bits of trivia from the movie's development, including alternate ideas and scenes, showed off photos and videos from behind the scenes, and cracked some solid jokes. So we've rounded up all the best bits from last night's Avengers: Endgame watch party so you can be in the know.

Antony & Joe Russo kicked things off with the opening scene, revealing that one of their kids played Hawkeye's daughter.

Christopher Markus gave a surprising answer to a fan question early on revealing that Wanda Maxmioff, AKA Scarlet Witch, almost survived the snap in Infinity War and went on a road trip (probably a space trip) with Rocket Raccoon.

For the scenes where The Avengers seek out Thanos to undo The Snap, reshoots had to be done because Professor Hulk was originally slated to debut at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, which the writers confirmed during the Avengers: Infinity War watch party the night before.

Anthony & Joe Russo shared a brief glimpse at Brie Larson arriving on the Avengers: Endgame set for the first time, meeting the rest of the cast before they went off to kill Thanos.

However, writers didn't seem to have a good answer as for how The Avengers got ahold of Captain Marvel's pager.

This image appears to be from the set of Avengers: Infinity War, but Stephen McFeely shared it last night, and it's too good not to share. That's Josh Brolin wearing a mocap suit and a big chest piece to stand-in as Thanos during the scene where Thor makes the mistake of not going for the head.

Tony Stark's lake house is actually not too far from Wakanda, so they should have gotten their help right away.

More cameos from the Russo family confirmed from the diner scene with Professor Hulk. Must be nice to be the kids of blockbuster directors who get to do what millions of fans can only dream of.

However, as a deleted sequence on the home video release of Avengers: Endgame has shown, there was almost a different scene introducing Professor Hulk, and you can get a glimpse behind the scenes above.

Emma Fuhrmann, who played teenage Cassie Lang, shared her script for Avengers: Endgame, which didn't let her read anything except the scenes she was involved in.

There's a lot of mocap suits in this scene with Thor, Hulk, Korg and Miek, as well as a fat suit. Movie magic, everybody!

It turns out Thor was revealed to be a little more careless in a scene where he relieves himself, but the directors held back.

Here's a glimpse of the set used for the Toyko scene with Hawkeye and Black Widow. It's actually a street in downtown Atlanta that was entirely madeover for this one sequence. That's pretty impressive.

Sometimes product placement is just crass advertising, but in this case, the Avengers: Endgame crew went out of their way to feature a beer that they loved drinking during production.

It would appear that the actors who have played roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe still exist as themselves.

Early drafts of Avengers: Endgame never went back to New York during the first Avengers movie. We can't even imagine what Endgame would be like without that incredible sequence and everything that happens in it. We're so glad Markus and McFeely figured that out.

Here's Anthony & Joe Russo with all of the original Avengers on the recreated Stark Tower set from The Avengers, as well as some mischievous adopted step-brother of a god.

Meanwhile, over in Asgard, Rocket Raccoon's stand-in and Bro Thor are getting some notes on their next scene.

It's increasingly rare to work with Robert Redford, so Anthony & Joe Russo documented it with Robert Downey Jr.

The sequence on Morag (where the Power Stone is located) almost turned out much differently by involving some kind of sea monster.

Everyone should give it up for Karen Gillan, who not only had to endure hours of make-up to play Nebula but found herself in a very uncomfortable position for this sequence in Avengers: Endgame.

Oh, and here's another little nerdy detail about this scene for those taking notes on blockbuster screenwriting.

Here's an unused shot from the New York sequence where it appears the crew was able to make it so they could shoot scenes with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark back in New York in 2012 along with future Tony Stark disguised as a SHIELD agent.

Meanwhile, everyone is having a laugh in Asgard, including Rene Russo as Frigga, Sean Gunn as Rocket Raccoon's stand-in, and Bro Thor.

Perhaps they're laughing about this presumably inappropriate line that ended up getting cut out of the movie.

If you're wondering why Nebula never said anything about the "soul for a soul" exchange in order to get the Soul Stone, there's an explanation for that from Stephen McFeely.

Oh, and in case you missed our full article on the matter, Captain America was almost the Soul Stone at one time.

However, the writers can also admit when they've made a mistake, like this contradictory dialogue from Frigga.

After the New York heist goes wrong, Tony and Steve have to figure something else out, and here's a glimpse behind the scenes of that sequence being shot, with Paul Rudd as Ant-Man just off-camera.

That brings us to the opening scene of our next trip back in time, featuring one of the best cameos from Stan Lee.

This trip back in time is also where Christopher Markus made a background cameo as a SHIELD agent.

Once all The Avengers are back from their time heist, they have to deal with the fact that Natasha Romanoff is gone. Hulk is particularly distressed, and in his frustration, the Russo Brothers confirmed that he accidentally killed The Punisher. Sad.

Before the world-saving snap is done by Hulk, Thor desperately tries to be the hero. Apparently the Russo Brothers let Don Cheadle rip on Chris Hemsworth for 30 minutes during production, and we really want to see that footage.

Speaking of Hulk saving the day, there was almost a conversation that happened between Hulk and Bruce Banner in the same way that Thanos has a conversation with young Gamora, and Iron Man had with his teenage daughter in a deleted scene.

Chris Evans had to keep a big Avengers: Endgame secret for a long time. He was told early in the development process that Captain America was going to wield Thor's hammer, one of the best moments in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It seems appropriate that the scene with all the heroes returning from the dead featured the last bit of music turned in by composer Alan Silvestri. That music cue makes the scene all the more powerful. There were very few dry eyes in the house when everyone came back.

Anthony & Joe Russo shared this heartfelt farewell to Chris Evans on his last day of playing Captain America, which ended up being a scene from the final battle rather than his return as old man Steve Rogers.

It wouldn't be a watch party if someone didn't have a nitpicking question about the final battle. For anyone who wondered how Rhodey got his hands on the new Iron Patriot armor after being stuck under the rubble of Avengers headquarters, here's how it happened.

However, not everything is so easily explained. Fans have noticed that shortly after Ant-Man shrinks down to normal size to hot wire the van with the quantum realm portal inside it, Giant-Man can be spotted still battling Thanos' army. It appears the filmmakers know about this mistake, and Stephen McFeely just wants us to move on and not worry about it.

Speaking of that van, here's how they shoot it blowing up so they can use that element in post-production and add everything else happening around it.

All right, back to the emotional stuff as Anthony & Joe Russo shared this video from Robert Downey Jr.'s final day of shooting. In a rare occurrence, Downey's final scene ended up being his death scene, which is a big reason why his production wrap is that much more emotional.

Tony Stark certainly gets a lot of the glory for sacrificing himself to save the world. But so did Natasha Romanoff, and a lot of fans were upset that she didn't really get her due diligence with a funeral or some kind of memorial service. Stephen McFeely said they tried to give her more, but it never felt like it was good enough.

As the movie starts to wrap up, one fan was wondering how Captain America returned the Aether to Jane Foster's body back on Asgard in Thor: The Dark World. There's no detailed answer, but Christopher Markus seems to know more than he lets on.

Steve Rogers may look like he's too old, but this behind the scenes video would seem to indicate that there's still plenty of life left in the old man.

As Steve Rogers finally gets the happy ending that's eluded him all these years, a small tribute to Agent Carter sits on the set where he and Peggy Carter finally get to share that dance and another kiss, the first of many more.

Anthony & Joe Russo wrapped things up by sharing this video that they (illegally) recorded themselves at an opening night showing of Avengers: Endgame, where the crowd went absolutely bonkers when all the superheroes returned through Doctor Strange's portals. Man, we wish that we could go back to that moment right now, but without the coronavirus obviously.

So there you have it. Hopefully that brought some joy to your day during these maddening times.

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