Why Star Wars Can't 'Do What Marvel Does' With Film Releases, According To Kathleen Kennedy

Why Star Wars Can't 'Do What Marvel Does' With Film Releases, According To Kathleen Kennedy

When Disney bought Lucasfilm is was made plain that the plan was to bring the franchise back in a big way. A new trilogy was announced and following that, additional films were confirmed and several others began to be rumored. It looked like Disney was getting ready to launch another massive franchise to rival their own Marvel Cinematic Universe, but now, it appears things won't be happening quite like that.

While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will mark the fifth Star Wars movie in five years, after that, Star Wars will be taking a brief break. The next movie, from the creators of the Game of Thrones series, will be arriving in 2022, and we'll only be getting one movie every other year, rather than getting one movie or more in a year like Marvel now does. Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy says that this is necessary, as Star Wars simply won't work the way Marvel does as a franchise...

I think there is a larger expectation that Disney has. On the other hand, though, I think that Disney is very respectful of what this is, and right from the beginning we talked about the fragility of this form of storytelling. Because it’s something that means so much to fans that you can’t turn this into some kind of factory approach. You can’t even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters. This needs to evolve differently.

It's hard to imagine that this response from Kennedy in Vanity Fair isn't a direct response to the fact that the last Star Wars movie, a film designed around a set of characters picked out from the franchise, didn't do well. While Solo: A Star Wars Story still made good money in an absolute sense, it still didn't make nearly as much money as the other new films have done, and its behind the scenes issues made the film more expensive than it was supposed to be, resulting in the first Star Wars film to reportedly lose money.

It's also true that because of the way that Star Wars has existed in the past, with two, and now three, movie trilogies, each separated by decades, there's a feeling that Star Wars is something special, that it needs to be handled slowly and with care. One of the reasons that has been given for Solo's poor performance is that it was released only six month after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and fans didn't like to see so much happening so fast.

Whether or not Star Wars is truly "fragile" and thus prevents the sort of approach that Marvel has been using or not, it does seem clear that Disney now believes that it is, otherwise you could be sure we would be getting exactly that. Kathleen Kennedy is honest about the "larger expectation" that Disney has, certainly the parent company wants to be able to do as much with Star Wars as possible because the brand is successful and that means profit for the company.

It's possible that the solution has been found in a sort of middle ground. A pair of new Star Wars series are set to debut on the Disney+ streaming service over the next couple of years, and so it could be that instead of releasing multiple movies over the next several years, the plan could be to supplement the few films we get with series like The Mandalorian.

I'm not sure that I buy that Star Wars can't work as a larger franchise. If Marvel can maintain a level of quality as it has, it certainly seems that Star Wars could as well, but if the feeling is that it needs to move slower to stay good, I'd certainly rather have fewer movies that are better.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters in December.

How The Guardians Of The Galaxy Movie Characters Compare To Their Comic Counterparts

How The Guardians Of The Galaxy Movie Characters Compare To Their Comic Counterparts

The comic book movie genre was forever changed by Christopher Nolan when The Dark Knight convinced Hollywood to take superheroes seriously. That was until the comic book movie was revolutionized again six years later by James Gunn when Guardians of the Galaxy, starring then sitcom star Chris Pratt, convinced Hollywood to take superheroes less seriously again.

The planet-hopping, ‘70s pop hit-blasting, sarcasm-quipping heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe changed the superhero movie game as soon as we saw Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill (sorry, “Star-Lord”) jamming to Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” at the beginning of 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The funny thing is, despite becoming one of the most beloved groups of comic book movie characters in history, their source material is among Marvel’s most obscure and unrecognizable properties. In fact, if you ask a true fan of the comic’s original run, Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, and company don’t look familiar.

In order to immerse yourself in the world of the Guardians of the Galaxy, first, you must forget everything you know about the refreshing sci-fi/comedy combo Guardians of the Galaxy (sorry, Chris Pratt fans) and go all the way back to even before Blue Swede released “Hooked on a Feeling,” when Marvel first introduced a group of ragtag cosmic warriors.

Guardians of The Galaxy (1969 comic book lineup):

In the deepest reaches of space in the 31st century, a group of lone fighters, each the last of their own species and with vengeance in their hearts, must unite to defend the Earth solar system from the evil alien race the Badoon. They call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. Their names are Major Vance Astro, Martinex T’Naga, Charlie-27, and Yondu Udonta.

While you probably recognize one of those names from the MCU, the others probably have you scratching your head. The truth is that when the Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 in January 1969, they were nothing like who their mainstream identities eventually became. Even the initial concept that inspired them was wildly different from the final product.

Guardians co-creator Roy Thomas had the idea of superhuman guerilla soldiers fighting against the Russian and Chinese armies in a wartorn United States, but after discussion with fellow writer Arnold Drake and Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee, it evolved into an interplanetary adventure instead. Drake, with help from Lee, came up with the characters, who would get their own series years after their first introduction and were used infrequently in other Marvel works throughout the 1970s and 80s, gaining additional members Starhawk, Aleta Ogord, Nikki, Mainframe, and more.

While many of these characters would later be referenced in a post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, James Gunn’s film adaptation of the characters for the MCU focused on the 2008 relaunch of the series, using cosmic Marvel comic staples such as Peter Quill, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and other notable characters. Yet, even the characters in the films are essentially just shadows of their comic book counterparts. How do the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and their sequel characters compare to their original inception?

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014-present movie lineup)

Peter Quill (Star-Lord)

The leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill (or, as he might prefer you to call him, "Star-Lord"), has a tragic backstory as a boy who was abducted by space pirates seconds after his mother died from cancer, but who still manages to enjoy the interplanetary life whilst donning a red leather duster and nano-tech face mask, blasting enemies with dual hand cannons, and rocking out to the Jackson 5. While the comic book character who inspired the MCU's introduction still has the mask, the blasters, and the charm, much about Chris Pratt's Star-Lord is the design of writer and director James Gunn.

Created by Steve Englehart and Steven Gan in 1976, Peter Quill was born in Colorado (not Missouri - that was St. Louis-native James Gunn's own personal home state shoutout) to human mother Meredith Quill and alien father J'Son, the then-heroic heir to an intergalactic empire whose ship crash-landed on Earth when he met Meredith. Quill's parentage is amended slightly in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with his father revealed to be Ego The Living Planet (portrayed in human form as Kurt Russell), whose comic book background is another story entirely.

In the comics, Quill is orphaned at 10 years old after his mother is murdered by two soliders of the Badoon race seeking to end J'Son bloodline. Quill kills them before they reach him and he is later placed in an orphanage before growing up to become as astronaut. On a NASA mission, his ship malfunctions and he becomes stranded in the unknown reaches of space, where Yondu Odonta and the Ravagers save him and make him one of their own. He would later go on to become an interplanetary policeman and then form the 2008 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy that served as inspiration for James Gunn’s 2014 film adaptation.

Chris Pratt's interpretation of Star-Lord, despite being half-celestial, is still a relatively grounded human being whose skills do not stretch much farther than piloting, marksmanship, and '80s movie trivia. In the comics, however, Peter Quill, has telepathic abilities that allow him to communicate with Ship, a sentient energy source that primarily takes the form of his spaceship, hence the name. Of course, in the movie, Quill refers to his purely mechanical mode of transportation as the Milano, another nostalgic Easter Egg from James Gunn, referencing Quill’s childhood crush, Alyssa Milano from Who’s The Boss?

Gamora

As far as base characteristics go, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy got Gamora (Zoe Saldana) pretty much exactly right. Created by Jim Starlin and first appearing in Marvel's Strange Tales series in 1975, she is the adopted daughter of Thanos, the last of the green-skinned Zen-Whoberis, and is, unquestionably, the most dangerous woman in the universe.

Her life on the side of heroism stretches further than her team-up with the Guardians in the 2008 comic book reboot, however. For one, she first attempted to betray Thanos just in her teens before later working as an assassin with the intent to avenge the genocide of her planet, becoming a key member in the battle for the Infinity Gauntlet, and even battling an earlier version of Drax the Destroyer at one point.

We should also mention not to bother looking to the comics for deeper insight into Gamora and Star-Lord’s romance. While their linked counterparts have a strong professional bond, that’s pretty much as far as it goes. Her most notable love interests have been space cop Richard Rider of the Nova Corps and Adam Warlock, with whom she adopted a daughter, Atleza. While neither of those characters have yet to be properly introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the comics have seen Gamora hooking up with Tony Stark once. Yeah.

Apparently it is also a trend in the comics for her to die over and over and over again, and each time she is resurrected is only temporary until she bites the dust again. With this in mind, we have a few interesting theories about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Drax the Destroyer

Wrestler Dave Bautista made his star-making performance as Drax, the Guardians of the Galaxy favorite whose inability to pick up on sarcasm is made up by his imposing physicality and fierce skills in hand-to-hand combat (excluding placing his finger on his enemy's throat). Of course, Drax's backstory in James Gunn's reimagining is also one of tragedy, having sworn revenge for the baddies killing his wife and child, but the comics gave him a similar, yet much darker, origin.

Marvel writer Jim Starlin introduced in a 1973 issues of The Invincible Iron Man the character of Arthur Douglas, a human being from Burbank, California, who was killed along with his wife by Thanos, who took Douglas’ daughter as his own. A being named Kronos was in need of a fighter to take on Thanos, so he took the vengeful spirit of Douglas and melded it with a powerful body of his creation. Thus, Drax the Destroyer was born with the sole purpose to kill Thanos.

During the character’s run through Marvel’s Silver Age, Drax was also blessed with powers he no longer has, including flight, the psychic ability to detect Thanos from far away, and cosmic concussive blasts that emit from his hands. Maybe that would have come in handy against the Abilisk in the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. His skin also has a green tint, as opposed to the bluish-gray paint that covers Dave Bautista’s body in the film adaptations. Perhaps that helps Zoe Saldana’ Gamora stand out better, not that she needed much help in that area if we are being honest.

Groot

At the time, there was no moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe more heartbreaking than Groot sacrificing his life for his new family in the third act of the first Guardians of the Galaxy. How could you not feel an emotional attachment to the kindhearted tree-like creature who is, arguably, the best role of Vin Diesel's career? What if I told you that when Groot first graced the pages of Marvel comics, he was the last creature you would want to cross?

Groot comes from Planet X, home to the Flora colossi: a species of tree-like beings whose rough larynges makes their language almost impossible to understand, as if they are repeating “I am Groot” over and over. Now, that part is certainly true to James Gunn's film. But, he was originally introduced in 1960 in Marvel's Tales to Astonish as a villain who invaded Earth to capture humans for experimentation in the Tales to Astonish series, not to mention he was a monstrous 25 feet tall as opposed to 9 feet in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. Yikes.

Groot would not be reintroduced as the heroic, friendly charmer we know him as today until 2006 in the “Annihilation: Conquest” storyline, which would later spin off into the modern day incarnation of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2008. Thank God for that, otherwise "I Am Groot" takes on a whole new meaning.

Rocket Raccoon

No one expected (heck, we all laughed at the idea) that a talking, gun-toting raccoon would be a key player in some of the most important battles of the universe (see Avengers: Endgame), but Bradley Cooper's voice and Sean Gunn's motion capture performance gave Rocket Raccoon just the right amount personality in Guardians of the Galaxy to be able to take him seriously. In fact, Rocket could get his own movie and it would probably be just as good as anything James Gunn has given us so far. He has already proven himself worthy as a loner when you look at his comic book history.

If you thought Rocket Raccoon's name sounded a little too much like a Beatles reference, it is not be by accident. Even his origins are inspired by “Rocky Raccoon,” a song off of The White Album, given that the title of one of his first comic book appearances, in The Incredible Hulk #271 in 1982 (“Now Somewhere In the Black Holes of Sirius Major There Lived a Young Boy Named Rocket Raccoon”), references the lyrics. Later, in the mid-1980s, Marvel published a four-issue limited series with Rocket as the central character of his own before becoming a member of the relaunched Guardians of the Galaxy in 2008. It was even Rocket who recommended the name, having once heard it mentioned by founding member Major Vance Astro.

The differences between Rocket cinematic persona and comic book persona are subtle. He is still the same badmouthing expert strategist and tactician, but instead of being born a talking, anthropomorphic animal, James Gunn reimagined him as a creature of unknown origin whose current form as the furry woodland creature is the result of years of experimentation. Pretty dark for being referred to as "Avengers Light" for a while, huh?

Nebula

When we first met the cybernetic Nebula, played by the unrecognizable Karen Gillan in an uncomfortable amount of makeup and prosthetics in Guardians of the Galaxy, she was an ally to Ronan who we loved to hate, but from the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to her contribution to Avengers: Endgame, we saw her as a tortured soul, seeking redemption and earning our sympathies. Even if she can still be a bit of "Blue Meanie," we can't really blame her, given her bleak upbringing as Thanos' adopted daughter. In fact, James Gunn's reimagining of Nebula's origin is even darker than the comics.

Created by Roger Stern and John Buscema, Nebula was first introduced in the 1980s as a ruthless, Luphomoid space pirate and mercenary under Thanos’ command. She would eventually take on many key players from the Marvel Universe, from The Avengers (whose series she debuted in) to the Skrull Empire. At one point, she became lucky enough to wield the Infinity Gauntlet herself.

Her origins as a half-cyborg differ from the comics too. When Nebula claims to be Thanos' granddaughter, he is offended by this and replaces most of her body with mechanical parts before officially claiming her as his own creation. In the Guardians of the Galaxy films, we learn that, while Nebula was growing up, Thanos replaced one part of her body with a new robotic device, one by one, as punishment each time she was defeated by Gamora in battle practice. And you thought high school was the worst nightmare a teen could face.

Mantis

She may have the very unique and intriguing ability to emulate or manipulate feelings, but Mantis did not seem to be the likeliest choice as a new member of the team when she first appeared as Ego's companion in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, played by Pom Klementieff. Fans fell in love with her endearing charm and child-like innocence, but compared to the rest of the crew, I would never have expected her to contribute much to the battlefield. More surprising is discovering that Mantis is, just about, the most watered-down character in James Gunn's reimagining.

Born on Earth and of half-Vietnamese and half-German descent, Mantis was abandoned by her father in a section of Earth belonging to the Kree. Believing her to be the Celestial Madonna (think cosmic Virgin Mary), the Kree trained her in martial arts, which eventually earned her a spot with the Avengers (her first appearance in 1973) and later among the modern incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy characters.

For someone whose storyline was condensed in the movies, essentially, to “I touch people and feel how they feel,” Mantis has a swelling history in the comics. You could practically call her the Forrest Gump of the Marvel Universe. Hopefully, Gunn is taking note of this for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Yondu Udonta

We know him as a no-nonsense space pirate, Star-Lord's true "daddy," and, most importantly, "Mary Poppins, ya'll!" But the Yondu Udonta of the Guardians of the Galaxy films is a pretty far cry from his noble savage comic book persona, other than being blue.

Yondu, a 31st-century being, debuted as the last of the Centurian species and a founding member of the aforementioned original Guardians of the Galaxy in 1969. Since he was not part of the current incarnation of Guardians of the Galaxy characters, James Gunn figured out how to work him into the story as a Ravager leader with a country-fried accent, courtesy of actor and friend to Gunn, Michael Rooker.

Remember that punk rock mohawk head fin he wore throughout the second half of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 that was referred to as a “prototype”? To comic book purists, that was the “true” fin, as it was Yondu’s own natural appendage in the original incarnation. In the films, Yondu uses the fin to control his floating arrow, a reference to his comic book counterpart’s skills with a bow and arrow. Of course, the MCU already had an archer, so that explains that.

James Gunn's vision of Marvel's cosmic avengers may be an exciting, colorful, ticklish nostalgia trip, but how much deeper the world of Guardians of the Galaxy goes in ink only makes us more excited to see what references and other surprises are in store for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. With that in mind, check back with CinemaBlend for more updates.

DC's Super Pets Movie Has Been Pushed Back

DC's Super Pets Movie Has Been Pushed Back

Early this year, Warner Bros. planted its flag on the calendar, setting release dates for a few of its upcoming DC films, including Matt Reeves’ The Batman, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad soft reboot and the newly-announced animated movie DC Super Pets. The latter of those films was set for release on May 21, 2021 but has now been pushed all the way back into the following year.

Warner Bros. has pushed its DC Super Pets movie back an entire year and the movie about the crime-fighting pets of DC’s biggest superheroes will now release on May 22, 2022 according to Deadline. No specific reason has been given as of yet to why DC Super Pets has been pushed back so far.

Earlier this week, on the heels of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’s successful box office debut, John Wick: Chapter 4 was announced and slated for release on May 21, 2021. That would have had it opening the same weekend as DC Super Pets, although I doubt that was the reason for the move. There may be some small overlap, but in general an animated kids movie and an R-rated action film aren’t competing for the same audience.

DC Super Pets now lands in a 2022 calendar that is largely populated by untitled films from the various studios and franchises. The dates have been claimed, but we don’t know what will be coming out on them as of yet. But we can now look forward, way forward, to seeing something quite different from DC in the form of DC Super Pets in three years time.

It's worth clarifying that DC Super Pets, from directors Jared Stern and Sam Levine, is not based on the Capstone Publishing line of the same name, though there could be some similarities. That imprint followed the crime-fighting adventures of the pets of DC characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Among the furry heroes were Superman’s Krypto the Super-Dog, Batman’s Ace the Bat-Hound, Wonder Woman’s kangaroo Jumpa, Aquaman’s seahorse Storm and the space squirrel and Green Lantern B’dg.

From 2012-2013, a series of animated shorts based on the characters aired on Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block. It will be interesting to see how this DC Super Pets movie compares to the previous comics and animated shorts, but feel free to check out a clip of DC Super Pets from Cartoon Network below to see what the previous onscreen incarnation was like.

While we all love cohesive cinematic universes like the MCU, it is exciting that something as obscure and silly and fun as DC Super Pets is going to eventually make its way to the big screen. Last year’s big screen DC animated film, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies only made $52 million. But its budget was only $10 million and it gave audiences, especially the younger ones, something different from the standard superhero blockbuster.

Hopefully DC Super Pets can continue that trend and like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, give us some variety in our cinematic superhero adventures.

DC Super Pets may be delayed until 2022, but 2021 still has two huge DC movies with The Batman on June 25 and The Suicide Squad on August 6. That’s all a long way off though so check out our 2019 Release Schedule for movies you can see this year.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Describes The Brutal Death Scene That Would've Earned Commando An X Rating

Arnold Schwarzenegger Describes The Brutal Death Scene That Would've Earned Commando An X Rating

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s output during the 1980s was legendary. The A-list action superstar cranked out a series of memorable thrillers in that particular decade, from The Terminator (1984) to Predator (1987). But none were quite as violent as 1985’s Commando, which cast Schwarzenegger as a retired Special Forces colonel fighting to rescue his kidnapped daughter (played by Alyssa Milano).

There were a number of incredibly graphic kills in Commando, including one scene where Arnold throws a pipe through a guy’s chest and INTO a steam pipe. Naturally, Schwarzenegger buttons the scene up by telling the guy to “Let off some steam!” It’s brilliant. But in a Reddit session today following the drop of the new Terminator: Dark Fate trailer, Schwarzenegger revealed a kill scene that he wanted to do in Commando, but it got shot down.

He said:

I wanted to cut off a guy’s arm and kill him with it. This wasn’t in the script. He would throw a knife at me, and after he missed, while his arm was still extended, I chop it off at the shoulder with a machete and beat him to death with it. Needless to say, I was asked by the head of the studio, Larry Gordon, to come to his office. And he said ‘What the fuck is the matter with you? Do you want to make money with this movie, or [be] an X-rated movie?’ I said, ‘You’re right.’ And he said, ‘Get the fuck out of my office.’

Hard to argue with the studio head not wanting to see Arnold Schwarzenegger sever a man’s arm, and then beat him to death with it. There are limits in an R-rated studio movie, even one that has the incredible death scene like the one below:

He’s dead tired! God, Arnold’s one-liner game was on point in Commando! It kind of had to be, because the plot of Commando was kind of a hot mess, with Arnold getting out of deadly jams using his brawn instead of his brain, and leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake.

This was peak Schwarzenegger. He would transition from Commando to Raw Deal, Predator, The Running Man and Red Heat before tapping into his comedic side for movies like Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Last Action Hero (1993).

Part of me is really happy that, back in the Commando days, Arnold was looking for new ways to increase the gratuitous violence in his movies, that might have made them more C-list, but also more cult-movie in tone. But then again, if that studio head had allowed it, Schwarzenegger might never have become the major movie star that he continues to be to this day.

Arnold will be back on screen later this year with Tim Miller’s Terminator: Dark Fate. Look for it in theaters on November 1.

Doctor Who’s Matt Smith Denies Star Wars Episode IX Role

Doctor Who’s Matt Smith Denies Star Wars Episode IX Role

It's was just over six months ago when it was reported that, among the names like Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant and a returning Billy Dee Williams, former Doctor Who star Matt Smith was joining the cast of Star Wars Episode IX. We hadn't heard much since then, and the initial report seemed solid, so we all went on our merry way looking for more Star Wars details, but now it appears the initial report may not have been entirely accurate, as Smith himself now says he's not actually in the movie at all. According to Smith himself...

As far as I can tell, I’m definitely not

The quote comes courtesy of the L.A. Times who recently sat down with Smith for an interview. While the profile doesn't go any further than Smith's single quote, the statement does appear to be quite definitive.

The initial report from Variety said little more than that Smith would be in the movie, no information on his character was revealed. Still the source tended to be accurate and there was no initial denial from Smith or anybody else that the story wasn't true. Of course, there also wasn't a confirmation and many of those who have been cast have been able to admit it, even if they can't say much more than that.

If we wanted to believe that the initial report was true, there is certainly room to parse Matt Smith's statement in a number of different ways. Maybe Smith is in Star Wars Episode IX, but he'll play an alien, meaning we'll never actually see the actor himself on the screen. Maybe Smith filmed a scene, but he's already aware that it will likely be edited out of the final cut, meaning he was going to be in the movie, but now he won't be. That would explain the odd "as far as I can tell" part of the statement.

Of course, Matt Smith could also be straight up lying. It wouldn't be the first time that somebody just lied about the truth of a movie in order to attempt to keep a secret. Episode IX is being directed by J.J. Abrams after all, the same guy who directed Star Trek Into Darkness, the film where everybody swore up and down that Benedict Cumberbatch wasn't playing Khan, before we all saw the movie and learned he was totally playing Khan.

While these things are possible, the more likely scenario is that Smith is telling the truth and he's not in Star Wars Episode IX. Maybe he was in talks to be in the movie but those talks fell through. The news that Matt Smith had joined Star Wars: Episode IX came within only a few days of the news that Dominic Monaghan had also joined the cast. Maybe they were both up for the same role, and Smith lost out, then the rumor mill got its wires crossed. It wouldn't be the first time that happened either.

Or maybe the whole things was just a bunch of crap.

We'll know the truth one way or another this December when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters.

Avengers Writers Reveal The Two Most Difficult Plot Points To Map Out For Infinity War And Endgame

Avengers Writers Reveal The Two Most Difficult Plot Points To Map Out For Infinity War And Endgame

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!

Although Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame didn’t end up being two halves of the same story, as was originally the plan, the movies were nonetheless closely tied to one another. That meant that writers Christoper Markus and Stephen McFeely had to pen these movies to both stand on their own and still ensure that they flowed smoothly together.

That’s no easy feat, and now that Avengers: Endgame is playing in theaters, Christoper Markus and Stephen McFeely have revealed that it was particularly difficult to map out where the now-infamous Snap and its reversal would be placed over these two movies. Regarding Thanos’ Snap, which occurred at the end of Avengers: Infinity War when the Mad Titan finally obtained the six Infinity Stones, Markus explained:

The biggest point was probably the Snap. And we realized fairly early on that if we didn’t do it at the end of the first movie, the first movie wasn’t going to have an end. And if we did it too early in the first movie, it would be a bit of an anticlimax after you’ve killed half the universe to have them stumbling around for half an hour.

Given that Avengers: Infinity War revolved around Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones, to the point that he basically served as the movie’s main character, it was a wise course of action to have him fulfill this goal at the end. It delivered a kind of shocking ending that the MCU has never delivered before, and had Thanos filled all the slots in his Infinity Gauntlet too early, then that would have infringed on Avengers: Endgame’s territory too much.

Instead, because the Snap that wiped out half of all life in the universe wrapped up the insanity that was Avengers: Infinity War, fans had to sit with that for a year, with Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel providing no clues about how this genocide would be undone. Which brings us to Avengers: Endgame, which has been breaking box office records left and right.

As was expected, Avengers: Endgame saw those who were dusted in Avengers: Infinity War being brought back to life, and this emotional restoration occurred at the beginning of Endgame’s third act. Regarding how he and his writing partner decided when to have this occur, Stephen McFeely told The New York Times:

Another big plot point is when everyone comes back. So the question is, is it early in the second movie? Late in the second movie? You notice the players left on the board are the O.G. Avengers [Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye], and let’s give them their due. It meant that we were likely going to bring people back late. So that if you were a big fan of Doctor Strange or Black Panther or Bucky [the Winter Soldier] or Sam [the Falcon], you’re only going to get a little brief window on them. It can’t be all things to all people.

Avengers: Endgame picked up a few weeks after Avengers: Infinity War, and although the surviving MCU heroes were eventually able to track down Thanos’ location, the Mad Titan had already used the power of the six Infinity Stones to destroy them, ensuring that his work couldn’t be undone. Beheading Thanos may have been cathartic for Thor, but it didn’t bring his friends back.

Five years later, thanks to Scott Lang’s return, these heroes went on a time heist through the Quantum Realm to retrieve the Infinity Stones at different points in the past, bring them back to 2023 and harness their power for themselves using a nanotech-powered Infinity Gauntlet Tony Stark designed. Hulk put on the Gauntlet, snapped his fingers and undid The Decimation, although it was a while until the un-dusted characters resurfaced to help turn the tide of the battle against past Thanos and his forces.

Although Avengers: Endgame featured some newer heroes like Ant-Man and Captain Marvel, as Stephen McFeely noted, it primarily highlighted the original six of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, who haven’t been all together since Avengers: Age of Ultron. With Endgame serving as the penultimate installment of Phase 3 and the conclusion of the Infinity Saga, it was important that these characters reunite one last time, as it was expected there wouldn’t be another opportunity to do so.

Sure enough, both Iron Man and Black Widow died during Avengers: Endgame, and while the latter has her own standalone movie on the way, given these latest events, the reports about it being a prequel appear right on the money. So while it is intriguing to imagine what it would have looked like if the dusted heroes had returned earlier in Endgame, their late arrival in the final version was warranted.

The Marvel Cameos We Never Expected To See In Avengers: Endgame

Fortunately, it’s not like we won’t be seeing any more of these particular heroes in the coming years. Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy all have more movies on the way, and it’s a good bet that Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and the Wasp will get follow-ups as well.

Then there are the TV shows being lined up for Disney+, which include Loki, WandaVision, Falcon and Winter Soldier and Hawkeye. Avengers: Endgame arguably set the stage for Falcon and Winter Soldier’s upcoming adventures the best, as an elderly Steve Rogers, who stayed in the past to live his life with Peggy Carter after returning the Infinity Stones to their proper places in time, passed the Captain America mantle onto Falcon, a.k.a. Sam Wilson.

There were a lot of moving pieces to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and maybe when the latter is released on home media later this year, we’ll get a better idea of what could have been. Still, given the positive critical reception both movies received, it seems like Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely made the right call with plotting out the biggest plot points.

Don’t forget to read CinemaBlend’s review of Avengers: Endgame and keep checking back for more news about the movie. Those of you already looking to the MCU’s future can learn what’s coming up in our handy Marvel movies guide, or you can learn what other movies are opening later this year in our 2019 release schedule.

How A Dog's Journey's Opening Box Office Compares To A Dog's Purpose

How A Dog's Journey's Opening Box Office Compares To A Dog's Purpose

John Wick: Chapter 3 is not the only movie going to the dogs this weekend. A Dog's Journey also just opened May 17, as a direct sequel to the 2017 movie A Dog's Purpose. It's also the second movie adaptation of a W. Bruce Cameron book to open in 2019, after A Dog's Way Home.

Is that too many doggone dog movies? Maybe. That could be why A Dog's Journey had the lowest opening of the trio. Or it could just purely be from too much other competition.

A Dog's Journey just opened to $8 million, putting it in 4th place on the weekend box office chart, behind John Wick 3, Avengers: Endgame, and Detective Pikachu.

That $8 million debut is significantly less than the $18.2 million A Dog's Purpose made in its January 2017 opening weekend. A Dog's Way Home also had a higher debut, making $11.2 million in January 2019.

A Dog's Purpose opened amid controversy after set footage emerged showing a German Shepherd being dragged into rushing water. Josh Gad, who voiced the dogs in the movie, said he was "shaken and sad" to see any animal forced into a situation against its will. The film's Los Angeles premiere was cancelled. But the film went on to make $64.5 million at the domestic box office and $140.5 million worldwide, off a $22 production budget, per Box Office Mojo.

Josh Gad returned for the sequel A Dog's Journey, along with Dennis Quaid as Ethan Montgomery. That film just doesn't seem to be on track for the same box office success as A Dog's Purpose. Why not? Possibly because A Dog's Way Home just came out in January and made $42 million at the domestic box office, and $34 million overseas. Or maybe fans were just too interested in seeing Avengers: Endgame again, or Detective Pikachu.

Critics didn't care much for A Dog's Journey, giving it a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the same is true for A Dog's Purpose, which got an even lower 34% rating from critics, but a 73% Audience Score from fans. A Dog's Journey got an even higher boost with a whopping 95% RT Audience Score, and an A CinemaScore from polled moviegoers. A Dog's Purpose also got an A CinemaScore, with A Dog's Way Home getting an A-.

So the fans who saw A Dog's Journey seemed to love it, there just haven't been that many fans heading out to see it yet. Memorial Day weekend is coming up, though, so maybe some parents are just waiting until the kids have more time off. But The Secret Life of Pets 2 is coming soon to steal family time and pet-loving attention, so A Dog's Journey needs to hurry up and find an audience or it'll be stuck in the box office dog house.