Avengers: Endgame writers explain how Ant-Man fixed the movie's biggest problem

This is how they reached their "breakthrough"...

Ant-Man, Avengers Endgame

Note: There are spoilers for Avengers: Endgame in the following article.

Avengers: Endgame's writers have revealed that they depended on the Ant-Man franchise to help them solve their movie's biggest problem.

One of the more controversial aspects of the record-breaking blockbuster is the time travel subplot in the second half of the movie – where the Avengers travel back to events from past films to intercept Thanos getting the Infinity Stones.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have admitted that they used time travel even though the concept is "a ludicrous notion" because it allowed them to have certain "emotional scenes" that weren't otherwise possible.

Avengers Endgame: Thor and Hulk
Marvel Studios

In the movie's commentary track (via ComicBook), Avengers: Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely admitted that there was huge debate over whether using time travel was going too far.

In the end, the creative team decided to go for it when it was pointed out that the Ant-Man movies had already laid the groundwork by exploring the Quantum Realm (which essentially taps into time travel).

Paul Rudd as Ant-Man in Avengers Endgame

Markus explained: "This [commentary] is, you know, sort of mirrors us sitting in a room trying to figure out how the hell to get out of the corner we wrote ourselves in at the end of Infinity War and entertaining the idea of a time machine.

"Then, feeling that was the stupidest idea you could possibly have, but then realising that the Ant-Man franchise, which we hadn't dealt with yet, had legitimacy if you believe the science, the seeds of a time machine in it, which was a breakthrough."


Also in the commentary track, the Russos offered some long-awaited answers for fans on lingering timeline-related questions about Gamora and Nebula.

Avengers: Endgame is out now.


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