In 2014, Marvel announced “Avengers: Infinity War Part 1” and “Part 2.” However, they quickly began saying, “Actually, it’s two films that are thematically tied, but they stand on their own, we promise.” The “Part 1” and “Part 2” thing was proving a little confusing. The first film was retitled Avengers: Infinity War and the second became an untitled film. It would remain that way until 2018, when it was titled Avengers: Endgame. The theory was that they didn’t want the title to spoil “Infinity War,” which, to be fair, is a very spoilable movie.

Portman, who played Jane Foster in the first two Thor movies, disappeared from the MCU after that, including an absence from Thor: Ragnarok. While Portman returned with gusto in Thor: Love and Thunder, this movie was actually the first time Portman returned to Marvel — sort of. Footage from a deleted scene in Thor: Dark World led to a reappearance of Foster, but Portman also provided her voice for a scene where Jane is heard in the distance.

Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of many Marvel movies, like to shout out their old sitcom work with cameos. In particular, they have used several actors from Community, and they also tried to get David Cross to play Tobias Funke in Avengers: Infinity War, but due to a scheduling conflict, they had to settle for an uncredited extra dressed as Tobias. Well, in Endgame, we see two more Community veterans: Ken Jeong and Yvette Nicole Brown.

In Agent Carter, James D’Arcy plays Jarvis, the majordomo of Howard Stark and confidante of Peggy Carter. The character was created for and introduced in the show. However, D’Arcy appears as Jarvis during one of the many flashbacks in Endgame. This marked the first time a Marvel character originating with a TV show appeared in an MCU movie.

Stan Lee, Marvel’s head honcho and creative force, was known for his cameos in Marvel movies. Eventually, it had to come to an end. Lee died late in 2018 at the ripe age of 95. He had filmed three cameos before his death yet to be released. The final of those films was Endgame, making his cameo in this movie the last on-screen appearance of Lee.

Jim Starlin makes a cameo as a grieving man in Endgame, and it’s only fitting he got a chance to be in the film. After all, Starlin is a comic artist and writer who created the character of Thanos.

Tony Stark finds a new purpose in his and Pepper’s daughter Morgan. Morgan is played by child actress Lexi Rabe, but there were plans to see an older Morgan as well. Katherine Langford was cast, but her scenes were cut.

Infinity War and Endgame screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely considered Thanos the main character of the first of the two films, but with his mission complete, the writers struggled to figure out what to do with the older version of Thanos that succeeded in his quest. Then, producer Trinh Tran suggested that they kill Thanos off in the first act. That’s just what they did, though another version of Thanos plays a role in the film. To differentiate the two, the younger Thanos was called “Warrior Thanos” by the filmmakers.

Larson plays Captain Marvel, who made her debut in her 2019 solo film. That movie was released before Endgame, but Larson shot her Endgame scenes before she filmed Captain Marvel. As such, Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were on set to ensure the version of Captain Marvel in Endgame fit their plans and vision for their movie.

Thor goes through some things after futilely killing Thanos, including, shall we say, not staying in peak physical condition. This was partially Hemsworth’s idea, but the directors made sure it wasn’t just a sight gag but also an indication of Thor’s mental and emotional state. The actor called this version of his character “Lebowski Thor,” which required him to spend three hours in hair and makeup. Thor was going to return to his old self in the middle of the film, but Hemsworth argued not to have him get chiseled again and won that debate.

Redford is an acclaimed and beloved actor, a true movie star across multiple decades. He had, however, never done the sequel thing before. When Redford appeared as Alexander Pierce in Endgame, it was the first time he had ever played the same character twice in the same film series. Also, it came after he had said he was retired after the release of The Old Man and the Gun in 2018.

There is a scene wherein the Avengers discuss their “time heist” plans, which involves making a lot of reference to time travel pop culture. Gillan’s Nebula is in that scene, but Gillan does not join in on the fun, much to her later regret. After the fact, the Scottish actress said she considered referencing Doctor Who, which would have been fitting. Gillan first became familiar to many audiences by playing the companion on that show.

Marvel scripts are closely guarded secrets, especially after actors like Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo started letting spoilers leak in interviews. In fact, only one actor received the entire screenplay for Endgame . That would be Robert Downey Jr., who arguably needed it to bring Tony Stark and Iron Man to life one last time.

“Avengers assemble!” This is a line repeatedly said in the Avengers comics over the years. It’s effectively a catchphrase, and even people who aren’t comic book fans may be aware of it. However, it had never been uttered in the Marvel films. Finally, “Avengers assemble!” was spoken in Endgame, with Captain America saying that line before the final battle.

Infinity War and Endgame were shot back-to-back, which is onerous enough. It was almost even trickier. Initially, the Russos wanted to shoot the films simultaneously, getting scenes shot with whatever actors were available. Shockingly, they realized this was “too complicated,” so they went with the back-to-back shoot.

While Infinity War and Endgame were shot back-to-back, but that doesn’t mean every Marvel actor could avoid simultaneous shooting. Ant-Man and the Wasp was filmed at the same time as Endgame , which meant Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly had to shoot the films simultaneously.

Avengers: Infinity War made an incredible $640 million worldwide its opening weekend, which was a new box-office record. Endgame didn’t just beat that. It almost doubled it. The movie made $1.2 billion in its opening weekend, meaning it hit the rare $1 billion mark in the blink of an eye.

In the end, Endgame made $858.3 million domestically and $2.78 billion worldwide. That made it the highest-grossing movie in the world and the second-highest-grossing movie domestically of all time. However, a re-release of Avatar overtook Endgame at the world box office. Adjusting for inflation, Endgame is the fifth-highest-grossing movie ever.

Endgame was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars but did not win. However, it won best film awards from the Kids’ Choice, Teen Choice, People’s Choice, and MTV Movie Awards. This isn’t an award, but it is interesting: The Wikipedia page for Endgame was the most-viewed article on that website in 2019, being viewed 44.9 million times.

This seemed like it would be the final Avengers movie. The story wrapped up nicely. Tony and Natasha were dead. Not so fast! It turns out, more Avengers movies are coming. In 2025, we’ll get Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and in 2026, we will see Avengers: Secret Wars.