About 2-3 (ish) years ago, I was asked to visit the Disney/Marvel mothership in Burbank for a meeting. I was ushered into the inner workings of the MCU, past a statue of the newly acquired Spidey, and into a room. Present were Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the writers of several MCU projects including Infinity War and Endgame, as well Anthony Russo, of the directing team, and several producers. The infinity gauntlet was literally on the table.
We were there to talk about lots of aspects of the science of the MCU and in particular those two movies. They laid out many confidential aspects of the story, and I tried to help where I could, giving lots of advice and suggestions, and following up later with extra notes. (You’ve seen the results of some of this on screen in those movies – also others, like Thor: Ragnarok.)
Obviously I’ve told nobody about the details ever since, even declining to be interviewed generally about the use of a certain aspect of science in movies lest it be interpreted as an Endgame spoiler by those who know I sometimes consult for MCU. But now the movie has been out for a week, and they and others of the MCU creative team are discussing the details in interviews, so I think it is safe to be involved too. So, here is a very nice SPOILER-FiLLED interview with the writers where they talk about the choices they made, with guidance from some physicists. I am one of the physicists they mentioned – yes, they talked to other scientists too, which makes a lot of sense*.
(No, I did not wait to see if my name shows up in the credits. That hardly ever happens. 🙂 )
Enjoy!
-cvj
*The excellent Science and Entertainment Exchange was crucial in making some of this contact.
