Exclusive: Civil War screenwriters talk Thanos & the Marvel villain problem

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

This week, JimmyO had the opportunity to talk to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus about the latest entry in the MCU. During the discussion, the question about the Marvel villain problem came up as well as how that would be addressed with arguably the biggest Marvel villain from the comics, Thanos, getting his due in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (PARTS 1 & 2). Both McFeely and Markus were open and candid when poised with the question, as well as a bit guarded in how much they'd reveal (obviously). Some great and insightful comments overall from two of the hardest working guys writing for the biggest franchise series since Star Wars. Look for our full interview with Markus and McFeely this Friday!

When asked about their plan to build towards INFINITY WAR and whether they'd be pulling from Jim Starlin's Infinity War or Infinity Guantlet series'

CM: I figure we can safely say we are willing to pull from anything Thanos is in.

SM: As you said, we tend to take the ingredients and make a different meal out of it. WINTER SOLDIER owes a great deal to the Brubaker run but it’s not the Brubaker run. CIVIL WAR owes a great deal to Millar, but it’s not close to the Civil War run. So we’ll do the same thing with Thanos and his gauntlet.

On whether or not we'll see an elaborate origin for Thanos in INFINITY WAR

CM: We can reveal nothing, but we are equally fascinated. Legitimately we are fascinated by Thanos. 

SM: There are a lot of reasons we took the job but one of them was wow, we get to take the biggest villain Marvel has ever has and try and do him justice.

On the criticism of Marvel villains not being particularly fleshed out or as engaging as they could be

SM: If you think about it, I get the criticism, but the early phases were all origin stories. It tends to create a similar villain. When it is no longer an origin story, I think you might have a little bit more freedom to create different villains. I’m sensitive to the problem. I get it. But it wasn’t the Robert Redford story, it was CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER. It wasn’t the Red Skull’s journey, it was the journey of one guy going from ninety pound weakling to American hero and then going into the ice. So in a 120-minute movie it is difficult, and Thanos will possibly change that, but you want time spent. Excuse me for going on a tangent but I love the Marvel Netflix shows because you have so much more time to spend with your villains. It’s literally minutes and hours spent. We have 120-minutes and Jessica Jones had how ever many it had.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR hits theaters this Friday. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – PART 1 debuts on May 4, 2018 (two years away today!) and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR – PART 2 drops on May 3, 2019. (Aaaand, almost three years away today!)