How Endgame Actors Reacted To The Movie's Biggest Moments

Of the many things that makes Avengers: Endgame stand out — not only from other movies but even other MCU films — is that in many cases, the stars were kept in the dark almost as much as the fans, and for almost as long. Some of the more blatant examples include Mark Ruffalo filming five different endings for Endgame, Tom Holland being denied a script for Endgame because of his penchant for spoiler-dropping, and Letitia Wright not finding out her own character, Shuri, died in Avengers: Infinity War until character posters for Endgame were released shortly before the film's theatrical premiere.

As a result, fans have a unique opportunity to learn the genuine reactions of the movie's stars to the same revelations the audience had to weather. The nature of Endgame meant — whether because of death, retirement, or something else — many of the film's heroes would experience a finality their comic book counterparts almost never get to see (e.g. dying and actually staying dead). With reactions ranging from the emotional to the irreverent, from actors who have walked alongside their character's exploits for a decade in many cases, we have the chance to see just how much these stars grew attached to their parts and how they feel now that — for many, at least — their journeys have either ended or changed drastically.

For a glimpse of how the stars of Avengers: Endgame reacted to the record-breaking blockbuster's biggest moments, read on. 

An actor starring in a major motion picture is expected to promote a film they star in, and if asked about the quality they're probably going to talk it up like it's going to sweep the Oscars — whether they're promoting Avengers: Endgame or Caddyshack 2. Considering the expectations for Endgame not only from fans but the actors, the Endgame press tour would've likely been a tougher slog than it had to be if they were unhappy with the film but had to sell it anyway. Luckily for us and for them, having their high expectations met turned out not to be a problem.

Speaking to The Upcoming in an interview posted a week before Endgame's release, Downey was specific about his favorite part of the film, saying "The last eight minutes of [Avengers: Endgame] were maybe the best eight minutes in the entire history of the whole run of them in a way, because everyone's involved. So I was delighted."

It's particularly telling how impressed Downey was when you consider what was in those eight minutes: for the most part, not him.

As Tony Stark demonstrates with his final "I am Iron Man," you don't need a lot of words to say a lot. Dave Bautista proved the same point with his brief but telling response to Avengers: Endgame. In an April 29 post, the Drax actor tweeted "Annnnnd.... still processing" alongside a shocked emoji. 

Drax doesn't appear in Endgame until the final battle, so considering the secrecy and misdirection used on actors like Mark Ruffalo, whose characters were more integral to the plot, it isn't likely Bautista knew much about what happened in the movie outside scenes he filmed. His reactions were likely just like those of most of the audience.

His "processing" may also revolve around what it all means for Drax's future in the MCU. With the death of Thanos — a death which, let's remember, has very little to do with Drax's actions — Bautista's character's chief motivation is gone. Not to mention the suggestion at the end of Endgame that Thor (Chris Hemsworth) may be joining the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Some of Bautista's processing might be of a professional nature. While Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Thor seem to be rivals at the end of Endgame, behind the camera it may be Thor and Drax who square off. After all, Drax is a big strong guy who says funny things. Thor is a big strong guy who says funny things. Do you need two?

One of Endgame's biggest moments didn't take place on the screen or behind the cameras — it happened in the record books. In early May, Avengers: Endgame knocked 1997's Titanic out of the #2 spot on the list of highest-grossing films in box office history. The development didn't go unnoticed by Titanic director James Cameron, who issued a social media congratulations to the MCU. Posting a picture on Instagram of a ship sunk by a half-submerged Avengers logo rather than an iceberg, Cameron accompanied the image with "An iceberg to sank the real Titanic. It took The Avengers to sink my Titanic... You've shown that not only is the movie industry alive and well. It's bigger than ever!"

War Machine actor Don Cheadle responded to Cameron's classy congrats on Twitter with "nothing personal, james ... it's the fans" and a shrugging emoji. Judging by the responses Cheadle's tweet received, the inherent snark has not been overlooked. Cameron rubbed superhero movie fans the wrong way in April 2018, when he told Indiewire he was hoping for what he called "Avenger fatigue." Cameron said he liked the movies, but "there are other stories to tell besides hyper-gonadal males without families doing death-defying things for two hours and wrecking cities in the process."

Perhaps now Cameron is relieved Endgame has come and gone, so that the "hyper-gonadal males" will leave for a bit and give Cameron a chance to show us some movies... with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

One of the biggest moments of Avengers: Endgame's resolution is when the aged Steve Rogers passes his shield to Falcon (Anthony Mackie). It wasn't necessarily obvious that it would happen — while Falcon did take over the mantle of Captain America for a time in the comics, Bucky did so years earlier. But it's a welcome, crowd-pleasing moment toward the end of the film.

It was a moment Mackie apparently took awhile to learn was going to happen. Fittingly, Mackie said the moment he learned about it was an interesting reflection of what we see on the screen. Mackie told IMDb "I didn't even know it was happening." He said one day when he was hanging out with Evans at his house, Evans asked him if he was excited. Mackie responded "About what?" Evans said "You don't know?" then ran into another room and returned with a script for Mackie to read.  

"We cried. We drank. We laughed," Mackie said. He went on to express his gratitude, telling IMDb, "I'm very happy I got that moment with Chris, for him not only to pass me the shield, but to tell me what was happening."

Along with big moments that happened in Avengers: Endgame, we've also seen some fun reactions to moments that fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your tastes) didn't happen. One of the many ways the hype surrounding Avengers: Endgame showed the power of social media was the reach of the so-called Thanus Theory — that Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) would defeat Thanos by shrinking, entering the Mad Titan's butt, and then switching to Giant Man size. 

Graham Norton asked Rudd about the theory on his show amidst plenty of laughter. Both Norton and Chris Hemsworth pointed out the tactic would work. But apparently not in love with the idea, Rudd asked, "Why not the ear or the nose?" Norton argued he would need to enter closer to the "middle of the body" and Rudd agreed: "Scientifically, you're right."

The Titan himself got to comment on the theory when Variety asked Josh Brolin about it at the Endgame premiere. Brolin claimed he had no idea what the theory was about, but regardless seemed to have a strange counter-theory ready. Referring to an Instagram post he'd made earlier that day featuring an artist's rendering of naked Thanos' backside, Brolin dodged the question of whether it'd work. "Does Thanos have a butt?" Brolin said. "That's a peach, man, that's a peach. That's a purple peach if I've ever seen one, that's a beautiful, purple peach."