The return of the snapped characters from Avengers: Infinity War in Avengers: Endgame almost saw them immediately appear at Avengers HQ after Hulk’s snap. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have made plenty of surprising choices in their Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. All four of their films have featured them paired up with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and the four of them delivered one of the most shocking endings to an MCU film with Avengers: Infinity War. Not only did Thanos win, but half of all life in the universe disappeared, including several of the biggest heroes around.

The Decimation, as it has since been named, leveled the board for Avengers: Endgame and meant that characters like Black Panther, Spider-Man, and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn’t be around. But, it also sparked plenty of theories over how Avengers: Endgame would reverse it. After the initial shock wore off, it was obvious that this was on the way, considering the popularity of the characters who left. Fans didn’t just debate how they would return, but also when was the right time for it to happen. As seen in the movie, the snapped characters don’t return until the last 30 minutes or so.

When the portals opened and the Avengers got reinforcements, it couldn’t have come at a better time. The team was split apart, and only Captain America (Chris Evans) was left standing in front of Thanos and his entire army. But, another version of the script changed the whole nature of the third act, with the snapped characters being around for the entire fight with Thanos. McFeely revealed this piece of information in the audio commentary for Avengers: Endgame as part of their efforts to find the best way to bring the dead characters back.

As tempting as it may have been to get all the heroes back together at the start of the third act instead of in the middle, it would’ve robbed Avengers: Endgame of some of its most significant moments. The lack of an army meant Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America teamed up to try and stop Thanos themselves. It was during this sequence that the original leading MCU characters got to work together one last time, and paved the way for major moments like Cap picking up Mjolnir.

We certainly tried a version where everyone came back and you knew it immediately and there they were. Maybe they all came back to where you wished them to come back and then Thanos attacked them all at once.

But, this alternate scene also would’ve changed the rules of what Spider-Man: Far From Home has called The Blip. Smart Hulk had everyone who was gone return safely to the place that they were at when Thanos’ original snap occurred. If Hulk manipulated the return spots of some people, he could’ve also changed the location of others accidentally or think of a safe place for all life that vanished to return to. It would be too complicated to pull off, even for Smart Hulk. However, it still sounds like the Avengers: Endgame team considered an immediate return for the characters for a while. Markus and McFeely recently revealed another alternate version saw them return to Avengers HQ and have a pizza party instead of being part of the fight, which would’ve been incredibly odd. Thankfully, these two and any other alternate versions were disregarded in favor of the epic conclusion that Avengers: Endgame received.

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