✖

To bring back those lost in The Snap, the surviving heroes had to pull off the near-impossible in Avengers: Endgame. They had to travel through time and carry out an epic heist of the Infinity Stones, a bold move that kind of came out of nowhere. After all, the concept of time travel isn't really something that most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe had touched on just yet, except in the Ant-Man franchise and, as it turns out, that's exactly what inspired Endgame's co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

With Avengers: Endgame available via digital release today, fans are learning a lot more about the making of the film and that includes an explanation of exactly how the time travel element of Endgame came to be.

"This is, you know, sort of mirrors us sitting in a room trying to figure out how the hell to get out of the corner we wrote ourselves in at the end of Infinity War and entertaining the idea of a time machine, and then feeling that was the stupidest idea you could possibly have, but then realizing that the Ant-Man franchise, which we hadn't dealt with yet, had legitimacy, if you believe the science, the seeds of a time machine in it, which was a breakthrough," Markus explained.

Indeed, it was the Ant-Man franchise that ultimately played a huge role in Endgame. Initially, the surviving heroes' plan had been a very straightforward attempt to confront Thanos and take back the Stones so that they could undo things. It led the heroes into space, but it was too late. The Mad Titan had already destroyed the Stones. Five years later, though, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) emerged from the Quantum Realm and, realizing only five hours had passed from his perspective, a plan began to form about using the Quantum Realm for time travel, specifically using it to carry out a "time heist" in order to assemble their own gauntlet and reverse The Snap.

It's also interesting that Endgame's writers looked to the Ant-Man franchise for inspiration on how to solve their time travel issue. Recently, a Marvel fan noticed a moment in from the first Ant-Man movie in which the film seemingly foreshadowed the events of Endgame. Specifically, they noted a scene in which Darren Cross/Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll) tells Scott "Did you think you could stop the future with a heist?" to which Scott replies "It was never just a heist!" While that moment could largely be coincidence, it's pretty safe to say that it was, in fact, never just a heist. With the Quantum Realm, Ant-Man set the stage for the heroes' ultimate victory at the end of the Infinity Saga.

Avengers: Endgame is now available digitally ahead of a home media release on August 13th.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021

Buy or Pre-order Avengers: Endgame: