AVENGERS: ENDGAME Writers Explain A Possible Plot Hole Regarding Captain America And Mjolnir

In a new interview, the writers of Avengers: Endgame weigh in on how Captain America was able to summon the lightning despite the rules set down by Thor: Ragnarok. Find out more details right here...

By JoshWilding - Nov 04, 2019 02:11 AM EST

Filed Under: Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame delivered a lot of very cool moments, but one of the highlights was undoubtedly Captain America picking up Mjolnir to take the fight to Thanos. Something fans have debated since then, however, is how Steve Rogers was able to use the enchanted hammer to call down lightning.

In Thor: Ragnarok, we learned that the God of Thunder has always had the power to do that and Mjolnir was only ever a conduit for the hero to channel it through. So, with that in mind, how was Steve Rogers able to take the Mad Titan down when the Super Soldier doesn't have lightning powers?

"There was certainly a debate at one point because particularly in Ragnarok, it establishes that Thor can summon the lightning without the hammer," co-writer Christopher Markus says. "I think Odin even says, 'It was never the hammer.' And yet Cap summons the lightning with the hammer. You get to those things and you’re like, 'It’s too awesome not to do it! We’ll talk about it later.'"

In other words, don't expect this to be explained at any point in the MCU's near future!

When it's such a cool moment, it's hard to complain too much. However, with Thor: Love and Thunder on the horizon, it will be interesting to see how Taika Waititi develops the hero's powers.

Hit the "View List" button to check out some more
cool Avengers: Endgame details from earlier this year!

How Captain Marvel Found The Guardians' Ship

Captain Marvel met Earth's Mightiest Heroes at the end of her solo movie, but we don't know what happened between then and the moment she flew into outer space to rescue Tony Stark.

Well, according to the Russos, she was brought up to speed with what was going on off screen and there was some sort of homing beacon on the ship that Carol was able to use in order to track Iron Man down. That addresses what some fans have claimed is a plot hole since this past April.

The Russo Brothers' Favourite Easter Egg

Now that we can watch Avengers: Endgame at home, we're bound to start finding Easter Eggs we missed the first time around. One of those has now been revealed by the Russos, and they say that it's their favourite. It can be seen when the team is sitting around a table and The Hulk is snacking on Ben & Jerry's "Hunka Hulka Burnin' Fudge."

As you may recall, Doctor Strange and Tony Stark discussed ice-cream flavors in Avengers: Infinity War when we learned that Iron Man also had a flavour named after him: "Stark Raving Hazelnuts."

What's The Deal With The Red Skull?

Believe it or not, the movie's writers and directors seem to be unable to agree on what happened to the Red Skull once the Soul Stone was taken from Vormir. Confirming that Captain America would have had to have bumped into his old foe, the filmmakers discussed whether the Skull would have been freed from his bonds or if the Stone returning would have then pulled him back.

The Team Suits Are Entirely CG

During the scene where Hawkeye travels back in time to find out whether the time-travel tech actually works, we get to see one of those awesome "Team Suits" in action for the first time.

As that sequence takes place, Joe Russo confirms that "None of this suit exists" and confirms that they're all brought to life solely with visual effects rather than practical costumes.

How Thanos Travelled Through Time

If you've been wondering about how Thanos managed to travel through time in order to confront Earth's Mightiest Heroes, there is actually an explanation. According to the filmmakers, the Mad Titan and Ebony Maw managed to reverse engineer the Pym Particles from Nebula's suit in order to shrink their ship and make their way to the present day. As explanations go, that's not too bad.

Nebula Doesn't Know How Gamora Died

Interestingly, while Nebula may have figured out on Titan that her sister Gamora was killed by their "father," McFeely explains that she wouldn't know exactly how that ended up happening.

"No one knows other than anybody who was there," the writer reveals. Instead, Nebula "just knows her sister didn't come back, and he left with the stone." Sadly, her body is likely still there.

Robert Redford's Final Role

Robert Redford announced quite some time ago that he was retiring from acting, so fans were suprised when the 82 year old actor appeared in Avengers: Endgame.

According to Markus, Redford himself said that it would be his last big screen appearance, so that makes this Marvel Studios movie even more historic given what a legendary actor he is.

A Surprisingly "Controversial" Line

Marvel Studios always stays in the PG-13 realm, hence why we've never heard an F-Bomb in the MCU. However, according to Joe, "probably the most controversial joke in the whole movie" comes when Ant-Man praises Captain America for having "America's Ass."

He adds that the line was "hotly debated," and that it was even more controversial when Steve said it to his past self.

Smart Hulk's Scrapped Debut

When Avengers: Infinity War was released, we saw toys featuring The Hulk bursting out of the Hulkbuster armour. That moment never came in the movie, and McFeely confirms that it was a scene originally meant to take place in the 2018 release before it was ultimately cut because there wasn't space for it.

"He was fighting in Wakanda," McFeely says. "The whole arc of the story was Banner and Hulk were not getting along. Hulk wouldn't come out to help him. And at his hour of greatest need, they make some sort of compromise, and Smart Hulk rips out of the armor and beats the crap out of Cull Obsidian and destroys him."

"It was pretty clear that the movie could not handle this weird success," he continues. "The movie needed to just stay in its succession of losses in the third act, which meant some hustling on the part of VFX late in the game."

Tony Stark's Gaunt Appearance

In order to make Tony Stark look so gaunt at the start of the film, VFX work was needed to change Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance. "Our VFX team did an exceptional job taking some weight off of him and making him look like he is on death's door," Joe reveals. "And the intent here was to make you believe, if momentarily, that we may actually kill Tony Stark at the start of the film."

Joe went on to say that Tony lecturing Captain America about everything that had happened between them was a highlight for him. "The moment here is one of my favorite acting moments of the movie. This is their essential conflict, and Tony can't get past it."

Why Hawkeye Was Cut From Avengers: Infinity War

We've heard this in the past, but it's confirmed during the movie's Director's Commentary that Hawkeye's scene with his daughter was originally going to be included in Avengers: Infinity War.

However, the Russos say they found it "too disorientating" to cut from Thanos' snap to what's going on with Clint Barton's family and notes that "We're already cutting between a lot of people at that point in the film" so a random scene with the archer might have been too much for audiences.

When The "I Am Iron Man" Scene Was Shot

We know that Robert Downey Jr.'s final scene was the last one he filmed, but it was also the last shot of the entire movie.

According to Joe and Anthony, it was filmed during reshoots back in January at Hollywood's Raleigh Studios, a location right by where the actor did his first screentest for the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Awesome, eh?

A Different Take On Captain Marvel's Introduction

We mentioned at the start of this post how Captain Marvel was able to track down Tony Stark and Nebula, but her introduction in the movie was originally going to play out much differently.

It would have taken place when she returned to Earth with the ship rather than in outer space. "We felt like it was not as successful of a reveal. We just didn't like the transition," Joe explains before Markus adds: "[The] idea will be that there'd be orange light on Tony's face. He'd see something. The audience wouldn't see it, and then only would you reveal what happened there."

A Thor And Korg Sitcom?

One of the movie's best moments comes when we catch up with Thor and find out that he's been living in New Asgard with Korg and Miek. Joe compares the entire thing to "a sublime BBC comedy" and jokes that he'd love to see seven seasons of this as a TV show. "I'm also very fond of the fact that the magical weapon he took the entire last movie to get a hold of is now a bottle opener."

How Iron Man Removed The Stones From The Gauntlet

There's been a lot of discussion about how Iron Man was able to remove the Infinity Stones from the Gauntlet Thanos was wearing, as it did seem a little convenient that the hero had somehow created that tech. Well, the filmmakers elaborated on that by explaining that Tony used nano tech in both his suit and the Gauntlet he created so that they would be able to talk to each other.

The Rat That Saved The Universe

In movies, a lot of big moments happen because of a coincidence and that's exactly how Scott Lang is brought back to the present day when a rat steps on the control panel in his van.

"Now, we have a rule in writing that, you know, sort of coincidences," McFeely explained. "You're sort of allowed them in act one. A coincidence late in the movie is perhaps lazy. I'm delighted that a rat has saved the universe." As coincidences go, it's fair to say that it was a pretty good one.

1970s Peggy Carter Nearly Didn't Make The Cut

During those scenes set in the 1970s, Steve Rogers finds himself in Peggy Carter's office and watches her from afar. However, that scene wasn't included in earlier versions of the movie.

"Our first draft did not have this, and it would have been a shame," confirms McFeely. "It's really lovely. Just the structure of the scene. The production design, setting up this office in such a way that he can be in shadow and she can be in light." Joe adds, "And that performance from [Chris] Evans, the longing on his face without a single line of dialogue, you understand how important she is to him and how much he misses her." It also reminded fans about their relationship.

How Thanos Was Able To Destroy Captain America's Shield

In the comic books, Thanos manages to destroy Captain America's shield with his bare hands. While his big screen counterpart is equally as powerful, Avengers: Endgame takes things in a different direction by having the villain use his sword.

Apparently, while Vibranium is the strongest metal on Earth, whatever Thanos' sword is made of is stronger (and it could be that Eitri created it).

A Key Moment At The End Of The Movie

Here's something you probably didn't notice: at the end of the movie when Captain America and Peggy Carter finally get their dance, the door to her house is open. That's because this scene takes place minutes after he arrives at her front door, which obvioulsy suggests they didn't want to waste any time after being reunited.

It's a small touch, but one that shows how great the Russo Brothers are.

Captain America's Severed Head

We've been hearing a lot about a scrapped sequence featuring Captain America's severed head, and that's elaborated on during this Director's Commentary. "There was another version where Thanos opened up a large portal on the battlefield where it became evident that in his own time frame, he had come to Earth," Markus explains.

"And he walked up to them [present day Avengers] and tossed 2012 Captain America's head on the floor. It seemed like it was never gonna make it, but it was. For a movie that began with essentially Thanos' head on the floor, it was a shocking reversal." That definitely would have been quite something, but wouldn't Thor's head have been more fitting?

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121 Comments

1 2 3 4

duoblade - 11/4/2019, 2:19 AM

"Whosoever wields this hammer, if he be worthy, SHALL POSSESS THE POWERS OF THOR" wouldn't that explain it? If THOR has the POWER to summon lightning whenever, then that's a power that would be passed onto anyone using the hammer. Right?

SKetCH - 11/4/2019, 2:22 AM

@duoblade -

I only opened the comments to leave the same exact response.
This is all I have ever thought after watching Cap use Thundershock on Thanos. I figured everyone knew this...

SKetCH - 11/4/2019, 2:24 AM

@duoblade -

Also, this is how Jane will be able to summon thunder & lightning when she holds the hammer in T4or...

Again, I thought this was self-explanatory.

MetalFaceDoom - 11/4/2019, 2:26 AM

@duoblade - was gonna say the same thing. This article is reaching real deep for something that is nothing.

Odin - 11/4/2019, 2:34 AM

Thor is the source of thunder and lightning powers, but Odin's enchantment makes it possible for anyone worthy to channel that power as well, with mjölner.

Given a situation that Thor was already dead at during that climax battle, then I don't think Cap could've summoned the lightning, since the hammer is just a tool to use that ability and needs Thor as the source of the power.

Spidey91 - 11/4/2019, 2:54 AM

It's an enchanted hammer made with Thor's power in mind.
Also, it's magic, who gives a sh*t.

L0RDbuckethead - 11/4/2019, 9:46 AM

@Spidey91 - My thoughts exactly. Why does this need to be explained?

Spock0Clock - 11/4/2019, 3:21 AM

Markus and McFeely impress me less and less with every comment they make.

Vigor - 11/4/2019, 3:32 AM

@Spock0Clock - I've begun to feel the same. They should just hush

Chewtoy - 11/4/2019, 3:55 AM

@Spock0Clock - I sympathize with them a bit, because I’ve had to give interviews about projects before and really sucked at it. I’d like to think that I was still good at my actual job, even if not the best at talking about it to reporters.

bkmeijer2 - 11/4/2019, 3:24 AM

I’m just happy to see a 35 year old looking 95 year old dude wielding a magical hammer that was taken from space somewhere in the past. No questions asked.

GreedoSarducci - 11/4/2019, 6:57 AM

@MalseMarcel - amen, brother.

SpiderParker - 11/4/2019, 3:28 AM

They wrote a great story but not every element is because of them. Its thanks to Russos that their vision was correctly projected. They all contributed to keep everything properly addressed. Well, I would like to think they purposefully didn't address this so that they can delve deep into this on Thor 4.. Either Markus and McFeely didn't know why this was happening and Feige planned it.. or they just don't know things planned for future adaptations, the way Russos and Feige do... which I assumed to be the case when they fcked up the story with 2 cap.

Chewtoy - 11/4/2019, 3:47 AM

Yeah, the whole “shall possess the power of Thor” thing explains it well enough.

But looking at the source, this quote is obviously a reply with the surrounding discussion edited out (edited for “clarity and length” it says), and so I give the writer a pass since this may be the last word on the subject of a lengthier discussion that already touched on it. And either way, I’m sure that talking about every aspect of this film on the fly over and over and the thoughts that went into the making of every scene can lead to getting turned around on some obvious stuff from time to time.

GhostDog - 11/4/2019, 3:57 AM

This doesn’t need explanation. Odin enchanted the hammer with the power of Thor. Yes, Thor is the literal god of thunder so he can summon lightning on his own, but the hammer itself can still do the same.