Captain America And Black Widow Will Have More To Do In Avengers 4
This post contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War shut down the internet upon the release of its first trailer, with special notice being given to Captain America's new beard and Black Widow's blonde 'do.
But while the outlaw Secret Avengers and their new looks may have been a highlight of the mega team-up's marketing rollout, the two original Avengers ended up somewhat sidelined in the movie itself.
That's probably to be expected in a movie with a cast of 40 named superheroes, but still somewhat disappointing to fans who have been waiting to see what Cap and friends have been up to since becoming fugitive superheroes in the wake of 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
According to the writers of the third and fourth Avengers movies, audiences will have to wait just one more year to see how the endgame treats Chris Evans' Cap and Scarlett Johansson's Nat.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter after the debut of Infinity War, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely said that fans should expect Captain America and Black Widow to have much more to do in Avengers 4.
"Some of the people, when you weigh up who you are seeing, seem to take a little bit of a backseat in this one," said Markus. "When we did crack them, what we realized was they had far more potential in the movie coming next year, just in terms of how their character would be tested by the story."
The screenwriter didn't reveal exactly what the next Avengers movie would focus on, but following Thanos' brutal, universe-culling victory at the end of the third adventure, there's definitely space for the few characters left standing to breathe.
"I will say there is less Steve Rogers and Natasha than you might expect in [Infinity War]," Markus said, confirming that fans are right to feel a little short-changed on the fan-favorites.
"Because they are such hard-bitten people, when a threat comes, they stand there and they take the threat," Markus continued. "They don't crack. They don't whimper. They don't start talking about all their failed opportunities. So, there isn't that much to explore, especially when you don't have a lot of time. But there's a lot later."
"We cracked them both together," added McFeely, referring to the plotlines for Avengers 3 and 4. "So we had to give ourselves permission to say that some people are going to get more in the next movie."
Markus is right about Cap and Natasha standing there to "take the threat", as all the characters really do in Infinity War is fight, fight, fight.
From the sounds of things, the Thanos-culled cast of Avengers 4 will allow the two a little more time for character growth — especially since we'll likely be saying goodbye to at least one of them by the time the movie is through. Maybe after destroying Thanos, they can go and grab some shwarma — y'know, for old times' sake.
Avengers 4, its true title currently unannounced, is set for release on May 3, 2019. It will be preceded by Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, and the Brie Larson-starring Captain Marvel on March 6, 2019.