RYAN FLECK: And action.
Trust me, true believer.
STAN LEE: Not only did I not think
I would be doing a cameo in such a big movie,
I never dreamt there'd be such a big movie.
In those days, I was writing those books.
I was hoping they'd sell so I wouldn't lose my job
and I could keep paying the rent.
All of a sudden,
these characters have become world-famous.
They're the subject of blockbuster movies,
and I'm lucky enough to get little cameos in them.
CREW MEMBER: E, mark.
JON FAVREAU: Okay. And background action. Action.
LEE: They decided any scene with Bob and me...
Remember me? Sure don't.
LEE: Had to be a sure crowd-pleaser.
TONY: You look great, Hef.
Cut.
Ladies and gentlemen, that's a camera wrap
on the creator of Iron Man, Mr. Stan Lee.
LEE: We are so lucky.
Robert Downey Jr. Playing this role.
I was born under a lucky star, I got to tell you.
And to be in a scene with him, brief as it was,
and I'll talk to them about that later,
it was a joy, really a joy.
I just love doing cameos,
because first of all,
there's no real responsibility.
We arrive at the place where they're shooting.
The director says, "Go to wardrobe, go to makeup."
When I'm all finished, "Okay. Here's your line."
That's Captain America?
I thought he'd be taller.
I'd like to start with the line
that might have been put to you, sir,
which was, "Did it work?"
LEE: I'm a very good study.
I can remember a whole line
after reading it three or four times.
Did it work?
And action.
Superheroes?
In New York? Give me a break.
I mean, I say a line or two
if I'm lucky enough to get a line.
Sometimes it's just pantomime.
REPORTER 1: Larry King. REPORTER 2: Larry!
And there I am on the screen
and I'm a big ham, so I love it.
Oh, man.
I am so fired.
I like them all. I mean, as I think of them, each one is my favorite.
PEYTON REED: And shrink!
Well, the '60s were fun, but now I'm paying for it.
REED: And cut it.
And I love being in the theater
and having somebody next to me,
"Oh, look! That's Stan Lee!"
I get a big kick out of that.
You know what? I think I'll just take these,
bring them over here,
and hold on for safekeeping.
Are you Tony Stank?
Oh, man. Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted...
At that time, I was a Federal Express man.
I'm trying to tie the Marvel Universe together
by being the one common denominator that they all have.
What's the matter with you kids?
You've never seen a spaceship before?
My cameos are always fun,
especially when I do one with Thor.
I play a barber and I'm about to cut his hair.
Touch something and then the whole thing's gonna come to life.
Okay. Good.Yeah.
No!
Yes!
TAIKA WAITITI: Good.
Hey, you guys, make love not war.
Each one stands out more than the previous one.
This is one of the best cameos I've done, let me tell you.
LUIS: Look at the girl I'm with. You know what I'm saying?
She's crazy stupid fine, right? You go, "Yeah."
Yeah. Crazy stupid fine.
It's so fun when you show up in the films. It's really neat.
Well, it's great. I love it.
I mean, people are so nice.
Great to see you. Hey, brother. How you doing?
All right. Great to see you.
KEVIN FEIGE: Have a safe trip down to Atlanta.
The fact that I'm working with characters that I've created...
Not too shabby.
By the crimson rings of Cyttorak,
it's Doctor Strange!
And the fact that they are being directed so beautifully...
"I'll need a ride home." Why don't you try that?
"I'll need a ride home."
LEE: To work with such professionals
and they all have a love of the characters.
Chris Evans came over to me like I'm his father.
He is so happy to be doing what he's doing.
He's so happy to be Captain America, you know?
See, nobody's going to recognize you, 'cause they...
They're expecting to see this little guy. They're expecting this big.
Hey, glad to see you, Chris.
Yeah. How are you?
Hey, congratulations on the twins.
Thanks, buddy. Hey, that's terrific.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: Yes. It's fun. So you say something first.
I say, uh, "It's aged for a thousand years in barrels
"built from the wreck of Grunhel's Fleet.
"It's not meant for mortal men."
And then that's you.
What the hell did you just say?
This is not meant for mortal men.
STAN: Neither was Omaha Beach, Blondie.
Stop trying to scare us. Come on.
I don't think of them as cameos.
All right.
I rather think of it as a supporting role that I play.
Excelsior.
JOSS WHEDON: And cut. CREW MEMBER: Cut there.
WHEDON: And cut it.
Stan Lee. The whole reason any of this exists.
My hero. The greatest man alive.
Thank you for everything.
We should all be grateful. I know we're all honored.
And Stan, thank you so much for being here.
It is our absolute pleasure
and forgive us if there's lots of handshakes and autographs now...
LEE: I sometimes wonder, "Did this really all happen?"
It's an honor to have you. Thank you.
Thanks a lot.
LEE: In the days I was writing these things,
I never thought it would turn into something like this.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
This is just unbelievable.
It's indescribable.
To work with creative people,
especially people who make movies, is such a thrill.
It's overwhelming when I think about it.
And I keep saying to myself, "I can't believe this is me.
"I can't believe I lucked out this way."
Let's give it up for Stan Lee, guys.
CHRIS EVANS: Whoo-hoo! Yeah!
Five lousy words they gave me to say.
Thank you, too. You're a great director.
It's something you never forget.
And thank you for all of this
and I hope that I didn't set interviewing back a few decades.
Okay. I'll see you later.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
I remember every cameo I've done since the first one.
And I think I'm a very lucky guy.
KEVIN FEIGE: The journey of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe
started with the journey of Tony Stark.
MAN: Much better than the big old... ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Oh, yeah.
Clunky, clunky monkey. And that sound is great.
I think it looks a little large, too,
but I think we might be able to get away with it all.
FEIGE: Going back to Favreau and Robert Downey Jr.
And the founding moments of Marvel Studios,
we said, "We want the hero to be as interesting out of costume
"as they are in costume."
SARAH HALLEY FINN: I had just been hired to cast the first Iron Man.
Jon Favreau was on board at that time
and I remember asking him
in a meeting with everyone,
"Tell me all the qualities
"that you think are most important."
Fast, quick-witted and funny and dynamic
and a bit troubled and confident
and brilliant and all of these things.
And we really kept coming back to Downey.
DOWNEY JR.: Stan Lee said he kind of created him on a dare.
Could you make a billionaire weapons manufacturer,
philandering philanthropist, you know,
who largely lives an ugly and irresponsible immoral psychology?
To peace!
If you look at Downey in his early work, you know,
it's amazing. I mean, look at Chaplin.
You look at Less Than Zero.
I mean, they're tough characters to watch.
Robert Downey Jr. At that point in his career
wasn't necessarily a family-friendly name.
Today it's ridiculous, but at the time,
it was, "Whoa! Risky casting Robert Downey Jr."
The truth was we got to a point
that we realized if we didn't cast him,
that would have been the biggest risk.
JON FAVREAU: Robert had a whole career of great work behind him,
and he was at a point in his life and his career
where he was ready to break out
and do something really big and exciting.
FINN: Jon was in love with the idea of Downey playing the part,
and we all felt so sure about him on a creative level.
Because he wasn't instantly a slam dunk approval,
I suggested we have screen tests.
I remember walking in with Robert Downey Jr. the day of the tests.
He was laughing and in great spirits and completely at ease,
and he got in front of the camera and started saying the lines.
I assure you the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace,
I'll happily transition to manufacturing bricks and beams
for baby hospitals, making hemp pants and the like,
but until that time, can I get you a drink?
I don't want to call it an out-of-body experience,
but it was one of those rushes
that I'm sure, like, somebody would feel if they're about to play
a big sporting arena,
playing for the ring or something like that.
It was just like, "Am I gonna pass out or am I gonna nail this?"
On that day that Robert screen tested,
it was clear that there was no one else who can play that part.
It was magic. It was exactly the feeling as a casting director,
with Kevin, with Jon, with everyone
that we all wanted to have that feeling, like,
"We have it. This is it. This is Iron Man."
Iron Man 1 was incredibly special.
We sort of improv-ed the whole thing.
We laughed. We cried.
We got very, very close on that movie.
FAVREAU: We were the first Marvel movie as a studio.
You know, there was no real model for it yet.
Nobody expected too much of it.
He's Iron Man.
We wanted to make a good quality film,
a good story, something that was smart enough, funny enough.
I still remember Tony landing in the high desert
in the eastern Sierras when he escapes the cave,
and I was buried up to my neck in sand and the storm was coming in
and we only had a couple minutes to get this take.
And it was like God's grace just came in
and gave us the take that was in the movie.
Not bad.
I loved the first movie so much.
I was just so carried away by the story.
It was funny. It was clever. It was witty.
Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing.
MARK RUFFALO: By casting Robert Downey Jr.,
they were intent on breaking
the tradition and mold of these types of movies.
BRIE LARSON: It was an unexpected choice at the time.
And so it made for this really dynamic,
really surprising performance.
Was that so hard?
He's so bright and so fast and it takes you so long
to catch up with him and it's perfect for that character.
Good luck keeping up.
I think most of us have been pretty vocal about what he started,
and without him, none of us would be in this position.
CHRIS EVANS: He really is the patriarch.
I think he really understood
the weight of the responsibility with these movies.
Iron Man 1 changed the genre.
And I think the casting of Robert Downey signaled to the world
that we are serious about our characters
and we really respect them in a way
that we're gonna hire the best actors possible.
DOWNEY JR.: It really was just this perfect storm.
I had hypnotized myself into such a state of confidence
that I was certain...
everything we were doing worked,
and, uh, the rest is history.
I am Iron Man.
KEVIN FEIGE: I'm not sure we could have done
this notion of an interlinked Marvel Cinematic Universe
without Captain America.
Whether it's bit by a spider or exposed to gamma rays,
the notion of a super-powered human started with Steve Rogers.
He is the backbone of the universe.
As we were developing Captain America: The First Avenger,
we brought in these two writers
named Chris Markus and Steve McFeely.
They were the sole writers on the first Captain America film.
They went on to become the sole writers
on Captain America: The Winter Soldier,
sole writers on Civil War,
and now Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
They deserve as much credit for Captain America as anybody else.
When we were talking to them, they had two movies out.
And so the idea that, "No, this is going to build
"into a giant, ongoing interconnected universe"
was like, "Uh-huh. Yeah, sure, of course it will.
I have no doubt."
Chris and I sort of coincidentally had been sort of blue-skying about,
"You know what someone should do. A period superhero movie."
Right? When they were invented, when they were created,
what would it be like to use them in the proper time?
And then when we heard that Marvel was going to do that, we were,
"Oh, my. We need to go chase that down."
MARKUS: As for the writing,
we never worried about the larger universe.
McFEELY: The mission is
always make the best movie in front of you,
because this whole thing
is dependent on making good movies one at a time.
We had the same goal in the first Captain America.
We subtitled the Captain America film "The First Avenger"
for a reason,
because putting a star in red, white and blue
on that scrawny kid
who yearns to be a part of the battle,
that is where it all started.
We knew that the movie wouldn't work
if you didn't buy Steve Rogers at the top.
ROGERS: I don't like bullies.
I don't care where they're from.
Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war.
Maybe what we need now is the little guy, huh?
JOE JOHNSTON: The spectacle and the action sequences only work
if you're engaged in the characters.
You know, all the visual effects
and it doesn't matter how big your budget is,
if you're not engaged in Steve Rogers/Captain America,
I think you're wasting your time, really.
McFEELY: We needed to fall in love with skinny Steve Rogers
before he ever became Captain America.
And never forget that he's in there.Yeah.
The serum amplifies everything that is inside,
so good becomes great,
bad becomes worse.
This is why you were chosen.
Because a strong man who has known power all his life
may lose respect for that power.
But a weak man
knows the value of strength.
MARKUS: Steve Rogers, more than any of the other superheroes,
really kind of loses who he was
in the process of becoming Captain America.
The old him ceases to exist.
There's no life of Steve Rogers that he goes back to.
In The Avengers, he's the leader
because he's completely dedicated to everything,
partially because he doesn't have anything else to turn to.
JOSS WHEDON: His desire to keep it ordered and to keep some meaning,
all that stuff is still an issue for him.
He's always been this very austere kind of guy,
but had this real loyalty to institutions and to people.
We have orders. We should follow them.
Following's not really my style.
I think they slowly strip that away from him.
You know, he loses his faith in government in Winter Soldier.
He loses his faith in his friends and his family in Civil War.
You know, I think when we see him in Infinity War,
he's just turned his back on a lot of things.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: Earth just lost her best defender,
so we're here to fight.
And if you want to stand in our way,
we'll fight you, too.
EVANS: With this movie, they let him kind of return back to that
hopeful soldier, leader.
This is the fight of our lives...
and we're gonna win.
Whatever it takes.
When we first met the folks at Marvel,
we chased the Captain America job
and certainly had no idea
that it would lead to the next 10 years of our career.
And we've had Cap most of the way.
It's been a lot of fun having someone with that gravity.
It's a rare character.
You don't get to write that character much anymore.
McFEELY: He's an aspirational figure.
It's a combination of where we put him in the universe
and Cap rising to the challenge.
You just don't know when to give up, do you?
I can do this all day.
FEIGE: When our characters are beginning to come to life,
it all starts with artwork.
Our visual development group,
led by Ryan Meinerding for the better part of a decade,
has been that very important step
between the comics and the final product
that has brought Captain America to life.
RYAN MEINERDING: One of the great things about the comics
is that Captain America was always designed
to read really quickly.
And also, because they had limited colors in the printing,
there's a simplification that happened with a lot of them,
that they were just, you know, this guy's red, white and blue.
There's a really fast, iconic thing that happens
with the characters as the source material.
Trying to bring that into a real setting, like for a film,
whatever they simplified for the design for the comics,
we're trying to fill out in a way that makes it feel real.
If they only had line work and four colors
and they're able to make something that resonates with people
for 60, 70 years, how can we find a way of putting it into our work?
In the case with Captain America,
we're trying to find reference materials
that bring him into sort of the world of a soldier.
The first time he puts on the costume
in Captain America: First Avenger,
it's about him being that sort of patriotic icon that's on the...
In the USO show.
So that was where we were trying
to sort of take those really classic
and iconic lines that were designed back in the '40s
and turn it into something
that was always kind of meant to be a little bit goofy,
sort of put him on stage and say, "You're a symbol for America.
"Show us how much of a symbol you are."
"Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank,
"but there's still a way all of us can fight."
One of the amazing things about being able to work on a character
through multiple movies is that you actually get
to tell the story of the character through the costume.
Seeing Cap's change from Captain America: The First Avenger
through Avengers and into Winter Soldier, for example,
is a pretty big visual change.
Being a person in the 1940s
and coming forward into 2012
and sort of living in that period of time
and being a fish-out-of-water
and then sort of acclimating very quickly and becoming
this very stealth-orientated, extreme tactical ops person
is a crazy change.
And it worked so well because...
Partially because the costume actually reflects what he's going through.
ANTHONY RUSSO: What made Cap unique in the Marvel Universe
and sort of in the nature of his powers, he's sort of
basically a man, only more so.
His fighting technique's a very visceral,
surprising experience of action.
JOE RUSSO: From a visual standpoint,
you take the script and you identify, like,
10 great moments in the movie
and then you take a brilliant artist, like Ryan,
and you say, "Here's what we're looking for from this moment."
And then Ryan draws up
and colors and inks a beautiful,
you know, frame from the movie.
Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?
JOE: They do incorporate lighting.
They incorporate a strong visual element, where will the camera be,
in a very, you know, sort of dynamic and specific moment.
And that does inspire the movie.
FEIGE: For Captain America,
almost every iconic sequence came right out of Ryan's original drawings,
where he was just by himself with his drawing pad at his computer.
MEINERDING: I've been at Marvel for about 12 years,
which is almost the entire time
that Marvel Studios has existed.
There's a sort of a craziness to the notion
that I've been able to stay with the character
over the course of nine years.
Being that sort of medium between the comics
and what is actually on the screen
has been a joy that I couldn't have imagined.
When we really distilled
the core qualities that we wanted
out of Captain America,
I think there's a moral fiber to him
that really isn't something that you act,
that it's something you need to possess.
And Chris Evans was someone
who seemed to inhabit all of those qualities the most.
So everyone was in love with the idea of Chris,
except Chris.
EVANS: The only reason there was hesitation to begin with
was because of the commitment.
It's a big movie and, you know,
those are the movies that if they succeed,
there's a change, a lifestyle change.
And if it fails, it's a whole other can of worms.
Even Chris's reluctance to be a star...
spoke to how right he was for the role
because Captain America was not looking for the limelight.
He was humble. He was modest.
He needed to feel that in his bones.
EVANS: I love the character.
He's everything that I wish I could be as a man, you know.
And the creative forces behind the film are fantastic,
between Joe and Kevin Feige.
I mean, you know, Marvel in general,
they know what they're doing, so in the end, I was so excited.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Once he committed, he committed 1,000%.
You know, he stands there, tells the truth and then kicks ass.
NATE MOORE: I think there's a confidence
that he really brings to the character
and an integrity that people really respond to.
FINN: There's something so endearing, so charismatic, so charming.
He has so much heart. There was something very heroic.
MOORE: There is something that he brings to the character
beyond what we could write on the page,
beyond what we could illustrate in, you know, special effects
that is uniquely Chris.
DOWNEY JR.: It's no secret, I love Chris Evans.
And I love Captain America.
Captain America was the single hardest character to launch in this universe.
This kind of guy out of time,
and is it too retro? Are people going to get it?
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: I cannot imagine anybody but Chris
playing this role.
It's really... It's a very difficult role to play because on one hand,
you have this character that has this very strong moral compass
and you try to think, "Where's the conflict in that?"
CHADWICK BOSEMAN: He allows himself to be vulnerable,
but he allows himself to not take it so seriously.
Don't worry about it. It's just a... What's that do?
He makes you love that character,
and it makes people want to follow him.
SEBASTIAN STAN: It's been really great watching him sort of pull this off.
What he does in these movies may look effortless,
but it's effortless because, you know,
it's a testament to what he's done with the character.
EVANS: It's tough to try and present challenges
to someone who is so selfless.
The biggest worry is not only trying to make the guy entertaining,
but also keep him interesting enough
to have audiences want him coming back.
DOWNEY JR.: Every time I see Evans,
he's like more and more like Cap.
It's like we've invested him with that.
And Chris is up for that
because that's what makes it exciting and different.
There's this huge amount of love for the character.
There's 20 Captain America shirts wherever I go.
It's ceased to become just about him
and how well he inhabited the role and all that stuff.
It's become part of our culture just as a symbol.
It's that thing that gives you kind of, you know, teenage goosebumps.
JOE: I think we have a lot emotionally invested in Cap as a character.
We have a lot emotionally invested in Chris
as a friend and a collaborator.
It's a proud moment to be able to sit back
and look at with perspective,
the journey that that character's gone on.
EVANS: You're looking at yourself in this old makeup
and you're trying to tap into Steve's journey,
but you can't help but think about your own
and think about what this entire experience has meant to you.
It's just been littered with so many good memories.
They never want to work, these kids, but I'll get them there.
EVANS: It is because of this journey,
of just such an embarrassment of riches
and such good fortune and just good luck.
And again, it's just so unblemished
because there's so many wonderful people around me.
This has been such an incredible chapter in my life.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: We'd love to take this character
in every different direction.
I think she certainly encounters her fair share of the Marvel Universe.
It's nice to be able to play a superheroine who has a past.
You know, she obviously has been around for over, what, 40 years.
And I think has a real foundation
for all different kinds of spinoffs
or interactions with other characters.
I think the possibilities are really endless.
JON FAVREAU: In Iron Man 2, the part that appealed to me most
about her was her dedication and just her intelligence.
I think you need smart people in a movie like that.
There's too much up for grabs.
There's too many things that change.
And you need somebody who's going to be a steward of their character.
"Cordon off all access to the track
"and clear the airspace for whoever needs."We got it?
MAN: Here we go. Ding!
Scarlett was just a dream.
You know, she's so game. And she had a really good time doing it.
I'm my own, my own secret weapon.
Unlike some of us, uh, older, uh, curmudgeons,
there's very little you can do to get under her skin.
She's just consummately professional.
JOHANSSON: I love playing this character.
When we first met Natasha in Iron Man 2
she was Natalie and, you know, you got to see her, kind of, undercover work
and, you know, it wasn't until the end of that film
her true identity was revealed as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it?
You just tear things. You're a triple imposter.
I've never seen anything like you.
Is there anything real about you?
Do you even speak Latin? Fallaces sunt rerum species.
Which means? Wait, what? What'd you just say?
It means you can either drive yourself home
or I can have you collected.
JOHANSSON: In Avengers, we see, of course, her in her own environment.
Just like Budapest all over again!
You and I remember Budapest very differently.
JOHANSSON: We get to see a little bit more of who she is,
a little bit of her history, of her, kind of, shady past.
I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.
Can you wipe out that much red?
Dreykov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire?
Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red.
You pretend to be separate, to have your own code,
something that makes up for the horrors,
but they are part of you. And they will never go away.
JOHANSSON: With the second Cap,
the character starts to question her own identity,
question her own choices.
I thought I knew whose lies I was telling,
but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore.
She's an isolated character.
Cap doesn't know whether he can trust her or not,
so she is not part of the family, per Se,
because she's never been taught to rely on anyone other than herself.
And she has a view of the world
that is skeptical, and cynical,
and her and Cap grow over the course of that movie
and he teaches her trust.
You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone
when you don't know who that someone really is.
Who do you want me to be?
How 'bout a friend?
Well, there's a chance you might be
in the wrong business, Rogers.
JOHANSSON: In Avengers 2,
she really, you know, allowed herself to want things
and to envision a life for herself outside of the things
that have kind of fallen upon her.
I have no place in the world.
MADAME B: Exactly.
KEVIN FEIGE: And you realize how strong she was
to have come out the other side
and to be a part of this very heroic team.
JOHANSSON: Her past is something that's always been shrouded in mystery
and, you know, we continue to open up the story,
give little, kind of, tidbits
and throw the bone out once in a while
as to where she came from and what her background is.
NATASHA: I had this dream,
the kind that seems normal at the time,
but when you wake...
What did you dream?
That I was an Avenger.
That I was anything more than the assassin they made me.
In Civil War, she starts to realize
that the Avengers are her family.
And she makes a choice to try to preserve the family.
NATASHA: We've made some very public mistakes.
We need to win their trust back.
That's what makes this character really heroic
is that she's, kind of, dug her heels in and said,
"Look, you know, I could kind of go down this road,
"which would be the more desirable road personally,
"and disappear and live off the map."
But she chooses this, kind of, greater calling.
NATASHA: Just because it's the path of least resistance
doesn't mean it's the wrong path.
Staying together is more important than how we stay together.
ANTHONY RUSSO: Part of the reason
why the Avengers failed in Infinity War
is because they were divided, because of the fallout of Civil War.
Natasha's a very strategic fighter
and she I think is really just trying to give whatever she can
in order to save as many people as possible.
NATASHA: He did exactly what he said he was gonna do.
Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures.
JOE RUSSO: At the beginning of Endgame, she wants to bring it all back
because she feels like it is the strongest emotional connection
that she's ever had in her life.
She's struggling to deal with the fact that they lost.
And she hasn't stopped.
Five years later, she's still fighting
to figure out how to fix this problem and she hasn't let go.
She has to do everything in her power to undo what Thanos did.
JOE: She's presented with a choice:
She has to give her own life to bring everyone else back
and she does it,
which is the most, single most heroic moment
in the history of the Marvel Universe.
It's okay.
I actually think that in some weird,
and it is a very emotional thing,
but some weird twisted-up fateful way,
this character who, you know,
has searched her whole life for a purpose,
actually finds her purpose.
And it's like this amazing, super-emotional, beautiful thing.
You know what I've become.
Oh, I don't judge people
on their worst mistakes.
Maybe you should.
You didn't.
I feel very fortunate.
It's been an incredible gift as an actor
to be able to come back to a character that's as complex as Natasha.
I think there's, kind of, a lot to explore there
and that is so exciting.
Cars are coming down the middle
as our heroes are running this way and this way.
CHRIS EVANS: Love the Russos.
I remember them the first couple days on Winter Soldier.
They really felt like the new kids on the playground.
But everything they said they were gonna do, they delivered on.
Their attitude kind of breeds this sort of lightness on set.
Let's do one more.
KEVIN FEIGE: They're the filmmakers
that took the Captain America series
and elevated it with the Winter Soldier.
"Gotta know, Cap. This isn't personal."
And then you...
But then did it again with Civil War.
That film is gigantic.
This is gonna be a great shot.
FEIGE: We were midway through production on Civil War,
and we saw the amazing job that Anthony and Joe were doing,
handling all these different characters,
telling this very unique storyline.
It's going kind of this way right now and then the window's gonna shatter.
Yeah. And then...
We knew where we wanted to head with the next Avengers film,
and it was then that we started talking to them
about coming from Civil War on to Infinity War.
We had no time to settle between Civil War and Infinity War.
ANTHONY: As we were conceiving and executing Civil War,
the end of that movie was very much a setup
for what these movies would be.
We always had the sense of that.
Even not having a break,
I think we were able to move forward
because there is such a continuity in the narrative.
In Infinity War, the scope of the film, I think, is unrivaled.
And really, the only way the film could be made
was in the hands of Anthony and Joe Russo.
That was an A-plus version of the shot.
MARK RUFFALO: I was really blown away
by how culturally powerful it was.
I've never seen a reaction like that after a movie.
Infinity War takes people on an epic quest
that does everything from entertain
and delight you to devastate you emotionally.
The success of that film is certainly a testament
to the Russo brothers as a directing team.
There's no doubt it was not an easy task.
LOUIS D'ESPOSITO: You look at Infinity War,
you're in the hands of master filmmakers.
It is truly remarkable.
Slow it down just a hair and just turn it into a little bit of a...
Yeah. Sure.
You know, like, "I'm getting... I'm gonna get," you know.
Give it a little look and then go with it. Okay? Here we go.
We talk a lot about the culmination of Avengers: Endgame.
We wanted to do a great finale
that not only had the spectacle worthy of Infinity War,
but with sequences and scenes and character interactions
that could only be done with Joe and Anthony.
They're the only directors that could handle this many characters
and doing this ambitious of a story
that needs to pay off every film that we've ever made
in one climactic conclusion, while at the same time,
introducing an entirely new direction for the future.
D'ESPOSITO: When we were thinking about these two Avengers films,
we came up with this idea, let's shoot them together.
And it seemed like a great idea at the time,
but it's impossible to juggle one story.
And the idea of two stories this complicated,
figuring out what they are, how they intertwine.
The Russos are so adept at handling complicated storylines.
You know, after the camera whips to you...
Yeah. Take in the group for a beat,
and then ask where's Fury.
BRIE LARSON: You have to understand
what makes each character unique,
what special qualities they bring to it,
how they can shine.
DANAI GURIRA: It's pretty amazing watching these brothers, like,
create these amazing, powerfully epic tales.
Go that way?
Well, that'll just be the badass delivery.
You feel very, you know, safe and taken care of
and at the same time, you feel like you can contribute.
I'm clearly charting the course.
And then you just come in and start charting the course.
Yeah. You're like...
Uh, we're going to... Where to?
TESSA THOMPSON: The magic trick is
that they're working with so many actors that have,
you know, their own relationship to the characters
that come from their own sort of parts of the universe.
And to make that all into something
that feels cohesive is incredible.
PRATT: So, it's all in one piece. So it's gonna be like... Boom.
JOE: It's focused at the end of it. Go back to the stake.
TOM HOLLAND: They've done the unthinkable, really.
I mean, it's not just two movies back to back.
It's the two biggest movies of all time,
and they've been at the helm the whole time without fail.
TRINH TRAN: They love these characters,
and they know these characters inside out.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Anthony and Joe,
they've essentially been on a job for six, seven years now.
And I love them.
And they love the Avengers.
ANTHONY: Joe and I have always loved to figure out,
"How do we take the character and how do we take the audience
"and how do we take ourselves on a surprising journey
"that is not holding anything back?"
As you progress through films like that,
your job as directors gets bigger and bigger.
We really have an amazing team around us
that allow us to focus on the bigger picture,
so we're very happy with this experience.
It's been really exciting to get to work
with some of the actors from different franchises
that I have just admired that,
I guess you could say, are sort of an extended family.
And then of course, there's new characters
that are also being introduced to the family.
Where are you going?
To kill Thanos.
JOHANSSON: It's certainly great to see that
the audiences are embracing and even asking for, begging for
really strong female superheroes.
It's wonderful to feel like you've witnessed
and been a part of that growth.
I'm always picking up after you boys.
I think one of the dangers of playing a kickass chick
is that you just mimic what you've always seen kickass men do.
You want to show me how to punch? Go ahead.
That's how you punch.
It's really important for me to find
the voice and the rhythm and the style
and the meaning of what it means to be a powerful woman.
And that that be its own distinct thing.
DANAI GURIRA: I so enjoy being able to be a piece in the puzzle
that was a woman who was the head of an army
and who was the right-hand "man" of the leader.
And seeing how that resonated was very humbling and very moving.
Women are demanding equality in the workplace,
whether you're in a superhero costume or an office job.
And I think Marvel is doing a great job
of amplifying that in the films
and representing that properly.
And that's a beautiful thing.
Every morning, I think about every way that I can help women
have representation and be out there in the world.
And I think for me it's important
for women to know that it can be done.
Hi, I'm Peter Parker.
Hey, Peter Parker.
You got something for me?
Our goal with Endgame was to provide a climactic conclusion
to the journey that the MCU has been on
for these 11 years now.
And so we spent a lot of time looking backwards
at the journey that the overarching narrative has taken
and all the characters that have been a part of that story.
And I remember it just dawning on all of us one day,
just, like, the sheer number of amazing female characters
that were now in the MCU,
which is so exciting and impressive to all of us.
I mean, we really looked for an opportunity to just celebrate that.
You could just see this really beautiful thing,
which you kind of get a taste of
with Avengers: Infinity War as well,
which is very powerful people meeting each other,
powerful people all being in one room,
powerful people that all have very specific skills
working together to form a team.
We have a smaller moment
in the Wakanda field in Infinity War,
where we have Okoye, Natasha and Wanda
teaming up to fight Proxima.
And that moment in the trench was pretty spectacular to see
when we were shooting Infinity War,
and we wanted a little bit more of that in Avengers 4.
I don't know how you're gonna get it through all of that.
Don't worry.
She's got help.
It was really beautiful to feel
this sort of Marvel sisterhood, you know,
and we're all coming from so many different films
that we all came together.
It was kind of like, "I see what you do.
I know your powers. Okay.
"Show me what you've got," and then we just clicked.
And we were just, like, cheering each other on.
Everyone just kind of taking their turns
moving around,
trying to help each other out. It was so fun.
You share... Exactly.
This connection, you know. So there's a connection
without ever having met.Yeah.
It's a really cool thing about the whole battle.
That day was insane.
We were all in it together and it felt electric.
It was really, really cool.
MAN: Three, and action!
You know, I normally don't watch playback on the monitor,
but I wanted to see that reveal of all the women of Marvel,
and I thought it was really powerful
and really exhilarating.
And I was thinking of all of the young girls in the audience
who will probably feel really inspired by that
in one way or another.
So, it was a really nice thing to be a part of.
And it's exciting 'cause all of us are saying,
"I've never experienced this before.
"I've never been in a film with this many women
"and this many strong women who stand equal to the men."
There is something very powerful
and we're realizing it more and more,
just how magical it is
to allow women to express their full gamut of their power
and their abilities as a unit.
What's wrong with him? ROCKET: Oh, he's pissed.
He thinks he failed.
ANTHONY RUSSO: Thor has suffered tremendous loss,
more so than any other character.
Asgard has been destroyed,
and now he has to suffer the loss to Thanos.
How does a person who's suffered two devastating losses like that
move forward, and how would he process that?
Boys!
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: Every aspect of him was broken.
Some tragic things have happened and he's decided,
"You know what? I'm just gonna check out
"and eat pizza and drink beer."
And that's what he's done, you know.
You all right?
Yes. I'm fine. Why?
Why, don't I look all right?
You look like melted ice cream.
So, what's up? You just here for a hang?
He's a very depressed sort of removed Thor,
becoming the opposite of what we've known him to be in the past.
I know you think I'm down here
wallowing in my own self-pity...
feeling sorry for myself, hoping to be rescued,
hoping to be saved, but you're wrong, okay?
But the great thing about Thor is, like,
there's something in his spirit that stands in contrast
to where he's let himself go physically and emotionally.
There's beer on the ship.
What kind?
HEMSWORTH: Being able to do this new version of Thor,
it's hugely liberating and fun.
We had a big sort of fat suit,
which I think was sort of 60 or 70 pounds.
This'll move.
MAN: Yep, that's the shimmy.
It was the hottest I've ever been.
How does that feel?
I mean, amazing.
It looks like it's in the right place.
HEMSWORTH: And we have, obviously, the beard, the hair,
and I have these things that go in the mouth
to kind of plump out my cheeks a bit,
which sort of had a little effect on the voice as well,
but probably in a good way.
It was a different Thor.
Hi, my name's Thor. I'm 22 years old,
live on Asgard and I like sugar.
PAUL RUDD: We're shooting a superhero film
and here's one of the most recognizable superheroes,
but he's just turned into a new character.
What Chris does with that character
and how it just kind of has this shift,
his excitement was really palpable.
TESSA THOMPSON: He'd been playing the character for a while
and really wanted to find something new.
He has such dexterity as a talent.
He's incredibly funny.
He has just really lovely energy.
NATASHA: Is he asleep?
RHODES: No, no. I'm pretty sure he's dead.
KEVIN FEIGE: Thor's new look will seem like it's being played for laughs.
But thanks to the performance that Chris Hemsworth gives,
it becomes very touching.
Let me, just let me, let me do this.
Let me do something right.
And we see over the course of the film,
how he tries to regain his sense of purpose
and regain his sense of redemption.
It's not working.
LOUIS D'ESPOSITO: At the end of the day,
even though he's carrying a lot more weight,
he's still the Thor that we love.
I'm still worthy.
D'ESPOSITO: The Avengers pull him back in.
To have a sense of duty,
he finally comes around
and he's a full-on Avenger, with carrying another 80 pounds, though.
Look at the first couple steps.
HEMSWORTH: I thought I was booking.
I thought I was going so quick.
ANTHONY: Maybe you want to give a battle cry.
Oh, yeah. Good one there.
It felt like I was playing a completely different character.
There was a real opportunity to just kind of swing for the fences
and it was so much fun.
What do you think is coursing through my veins?
Cocoa Puffs? Nachos? Embarrassment?
Lightning.
ROGERS: Asking a woman to dance always seems so terrifying.
And the past few years just didn't seem to matter that much.
Figured I'd wait. For what?
Right partner.
JOE RUSSO: The essential conflict in Steve
is the desire to serve.
And that desire to serve would supersede his personal identity.
He's got an amazing set of morals and values.
He's an incredibly good man,
given the hand that life has dealt him.
Doctors kinda know that if this guy is given this great gift,
he won't take advantage of it.
He understands how to value what he has
'cause he didn't always have it.
JOE JOHNSTON: The common issue among all the Marvel heroes
is that they have a very vulnerable side to them.
And Steve Rogers is certainly no exception to that.
He is probably the most vulnerable
before he becomes Captain America.
CHRISTOPHER MARKUS: He, more that any of the other superheroes,
really, kind of, loses who he was
in the process of becoming him.
'Cause he was a scrawny, 90-pound man,
who gets changed into Captain America.
So the old him ceases to exist.
There's no life of Steve Rogers that he goes back to.
Almost, I get the feeling,
he'd be more comfortable if he could wear the outfit all the time
because then he has a persona.
Then he knows who he is.
That's the first time he was valued,
he had very few people who valued him.
He wasn't quite an orphan
but he was alone fairly early on
and he had one friend.
It was Bucky Barnes, and Bucky Barnes goes off to war.
And he was a scrappy kid
who got picked on all his life.
JOHNSTON: He is very relatable.
He is a superhero.
But all his power is basically what the human body can do.
McFEELY: Once circumstances lead him to being Captain America,
he finds, you know, a purpose.
You told me you thought I was meant for more than this.
Did you mean that?
Every word.
HAYLEY ATWELL: Peggy has a career.
And she has a lot of self-respect.
And she's pretty sick and tired
of lots of men kind of not taking her
seriously in the Army, and you know,
playing around with her.
I think Peggy relates to someone really fighting for what they believe in
and really having to struggle all the time to prove themselves.
And, she being the only woman in this environment,
knows exactly what that feels like.
It's not just the normal, everyday love story.
There's something else.
In the same way that we love Steve,
because he exhibits some sort of determination
and selflessness,
that's the same thing that attracts her to him.
JOE: Steve learned a lot from Peggy Carter.
If you go back and look at The First Avenger,
that is the essential relationship
that I think turned him into who he is today.
It turned him into Captain America.
Her sense of integrity,
her call to action are all qualities that have been engrained
in Steve and are his best qualities.
And they come from an example, from Peggy.
And so I think it was critical that her character
embody those essential qualities
because he wouldn't be who he is without them.
I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance.
A week, next Saturday at the Stork Club.
You got it.
PEGGY: 8:00 on the dot. Don't you dare be late.
JOE: The great tragedy of Steve Rogers' existence
was, now he found he love of his life
and then, had to sacrifice himself,
and 70 years of his life to save the world.
ANTHONY: I always found it very endearing about Cap,
that for all that character has sacrificed,
and he's sacrificed a lot.
But one thing he could never let go of was Peggy.
And it just stayed with him all those years.
It's been so long.
So long.
Well, I couldn't leave my best girl.
Not when she owes me a dance.
ATWELL: We want the audiences to feel moved by it.
People have sent me poems that they've written about Peggy and Cap,
and montages that they've sent me
of Peggy and Cap's greatest moments,
putting, like, soundtracks over them,
like Aerosmith soundtracks or something,
with longing looks from Peggy and Cap.
And I'm realizing that the story has affected them.
And that's great 'cause we feel like that's what we wanted.
We wanted something that had heart to it
that people, essentially, cared about.
Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life.
I really like what they let my character experience
in these movies, to be honest,
the struggle and the sacrifice
and the culmination of friendships
that have had peaks and valleys.
And it's just a really layered, colorful experience.
JOE: His arc over the course of the movies
take him from a place of service,
to where he started to question authority
and ultimately embrace his identity
and become self-actualized.
And he has the opportunity in Avengers: Endgame
to go back and correct the loss
and be with Peggy, the love of his life.
And he makes that choice.
So, did something go wrong or did something go right?
Well, after I
put the stones back, I thought...
Maybe I'll...
try some of that life Tony was
telling me to get.
You're trying' to tap into Steve's journey before you go to set
to understand what this moment means to him.
But you can't help but think about your own.
And think about what this entire experience
has meant to you.
God, you can get choked up even thinking about it right now.
You wanna tell me about her?
ROGERS: No.
No, I don't think I will.
TONY: Are these our gojis?
PEPPER: They're not. TONY: What's wrong with ours?
Your alpaca ate them all.Oh.
All of them. What a glowing endorsement.
First of all, Gerald is our alpaca.
He's not my alpaca if he's eating my gojis.
Okay. They're gonna be nice in the salad right there, right?
No, don't, don't, don't! Could you put it down?
Get out of my kitchen.Okay.
TONY: Whoops.
We're good here, right? Yeah, we're great.
Tell Madam Secretary that lunch is in five.
I will collect our alpha female posthaste.
And what happened to the Tesseract after that?
It's at the bottom of the ocean.
It fell out of the plane after I had to crash it.
Yeah, I've been meaning to ask,
why did you have to crash the plane anyway?
There were bombs on board.
Bombs on board.
And you couldn't have jumped out of the plane before you crashed it?
ROCKET: How long did you fight these guys?
About, uh, two or three hours.
Hours?
The Chitauri are the suckiest army in the galaxy.
Why didn't you just blow up the mother ship?
We didn't know that was a thing.
You didn't know that was a thing?
Everyone knows... Hey!
There we go.
ROCKET: All clear. Which way?
Oh.
THOR: You say something?
ROCKET: I said I want to claw my eyes out.
But unfortunately, it wouldn't do any good
'cause I already saw the awfulness.
Will you focus? I'm focused.
This pretty place is about to get uglified real quick
by a bunch of frickin' elves.
Do you know that I saw all these people die?
So this is a little bit difficult for me, okay?
So why don't you reach down deep inside
and try and find a small ounce of humanity?
Just give me the thingy.
"Just give me the thingy. Just give me the thingy."
I didn't even want to come here.
Reliving all these repressed memories.
My God, get it together. Get it together.
You're embarrassing.
All right. Which way?
I don't know.
You don't know? You used to frickin' live here!
For 1,500 years. Not forever.
That way, I think. Yeah. Maybe.
ROCKET: We are dead. We are so, so dead.
I get it. It's nutty, it's crazy-making
'cause you start worrying about a legacy, you know.
You want to leave them the better world,
and then you realize you haven't done all that much to give them one,
and it's...
What's your name, again?
Potts.Potts.
Yeah.
You want to come work for me, Potts?
I'm a little tied up in futures right now.
Nobody pull a hamstring.
Warm your butt cheeks up. Warm up your butt cheeks!
MAN: Cut there.
Copy that!
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: There you go, ya cub.
I broke it.
Fill.
MAN 1: Action! No, no, not yet.
MAN 2: All right, here we go.
The thing about time travel...
It's more important to look marvelous
than to feel marvelous.
I can't believe I made a whole movie
with this thing on. This is...
Yeah, does it look cool or...
MAN: Yeah. It looks cool. Right?
It doesn't feel cool, but if it looks cool, that's what matters.
THOR: Do you have any idea
what's coursing through my veins right now?
Funyuns?
HEMSWORTH: Yes!
Orange soda?
We are getting the whole team, aren't we? A duck!
There, good one.
You see what I have to deal with here? Ten years of this.
Her synaptic drive was probably
damaged in battle.
Her synaptic drive was badly damaged in battle.
Are you sure you want to 90210 this?
Fix Star-Lord's hair.
Whoo!
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Turn her off!
I feel like I've given you all you could ever want.
TONY: God, it seems like a thousand years ago.
I fought my way out of that cave,
became Iron Man,
realized I loved you.
I know I said no more surprises,
but I was really hoping to pull off one last one.
ANTHONY RUSSO: The really unique thing about Endgame for Joe and I
was that this movie was the ending.
JOE RUSSO: Marvel and Kevin Feige
have certainly done something singular in cinematic history.
We really want to bring that same experience to the audience.
We want them to feel the fullest range of emotion,
because we feel like that creates the most complete ending.
Our goal was to deliver an experience
that felt like a very satisfying,
surprising, yet fitting ending to this narrative
that they've been following for these many years
and these characters that they've loved for so long.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: Avengers...
assemble.
JOE: It's about as massive a production as you can mount.
You really have to have an incredible team of collaborators
that you're working with,
so it's been a very special experience for us.
ANTHONY: There's an energy here on set
that comes from everybody's dedication and character
and belief in what we're doing,
that what we're doing is important and matters to people.
Everybody recognizes, I think, in the cast
what an amazing opportunity these movies are,
and they know that it's going to take everybody's best effort
to pull them off properly,
so the collaborative energy that every one of these actors
brings to set every day is really remarkable
and a big part of the magic of these movies.
JOE: Ladies and gentlemen!
That's a wrap!
ANTHONY: These are all people that for literally the last seven years,
uninterrupted, we have been collaborating with.
JOE: They've been like family to us.
We're going to miss everyone.
ANTHONY: This has been such a rare opportunity.
It's the opportunity of a career.
And I think we look at it like that,
and I think everybody involved does,
so this time that we've spent at Marvel is irreplaceable.
Yeah.