Marvel's decade-long story ends with 'Avengers: Endgame'

LOS ANGELES -- About five years ago, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige found himself on a retreat in Palm Springs plotting the future for the wild, experimental "cinematic universe" he helped start in 2008 . He wanted to do something they hadn't done. He wanted an ending.

And after a quick pitch to Robert Downey Jr., he, directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely started plotting a way to bring this saga to a close, brainstorming whenever they had a moment -- even in between takes of "Captain America: Civil War."

Anyone who saw "Avengers: Infinity War" knows they weren't kidding around either. Thanos literally dissolved half of humanity, including Spider-Man and Black Panther in an event known as "the snap" that's inspired tears, memes and more fan theories than the internet can hold. Talk about a cliffhanger.

Endings are a rarity in the franchise movie-making business; especially when one's popularity has only multiplied as the movies of Marvel have. But Marvel Studios, which never has shied away from a little rule-breaking, is taking a sledgehammer to that old "don't leave money on the table" maxim, and audiences will finally be able to see how they do it when "Avengers: Endgame" opens nationwide on April 25.

"(Ending) is not a scary word," Feige said. "It's a necessary word."

What exactly that means for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is something of a state secret. Feige said this will be "definitive," though.

"People can debate and discuss what that means before they see the movie," Feige said. "But for us that means bringing to a conclusion the first three phases, the first 22 films in the MCU, so that everything thereafter is a new start."

So "new" in fact that Feige won't even discuss what's to come beyond the July release of "Spider-Man: Far From Home." He won't confirm reportedly in-the-works projects like the "Black Widow" stand-alone, "The Eternals" or "Shang-Chi," or talk about plans for the 20th Century Fox properties like "Deadpool" and "X-Men" now under his purview.

They have the next five years mapped out; they're just not letting audiences peek behind the curtain until after "Endgame." It's that big.

"How we leave 'Endgame' will help define where we're going for many people," Feige said.

But how does one talk about a movie no press has seen and no actors or creators are allowed to discuss in detail? Well, carefully and cryptically.

We know some things. That the heroes left such as Iron Man (Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and War Machine(Don Cheadle) are dealing with the devastating loss post-snap while trying to figure out what to do with Thanos. A helpful "Avenge the Fallen" campaign served as a reminder of who survived and who didn't (some of the dusted were even a surprise, like "Black Panther's" Shuri). We also know they have a new weapon in Brie Larson's Captain Marvel, who Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury managed to page before dissolving into dust.

Will characters die, though? Probably. Will the ones lost in "the snap," remain gone? Unclear (although some who have upcoming movies, like, say Spider-Man, won't). But the cast and filmmakers aren't giving anything up, or even commenting on the fact this might be the last of Evans as Captain America, which the actor himself tweeted about months ago.

"I still don't know what happens in this movie," said Larson, who actually even filmed her scenes in "Endgame" before "Captain Marvel," which came out earlier this year.