Black Panther Fight Scene Cut From Avengers: Endgame Final Battle
"We didn’t really shuffle it around a lot. I remember we did have a much more elaborate sequence with [Thanos’s henchman, Ebony] Maw," Ford explained. "His battle with Panther was longer. I remember we took it down because when they come through the portals, they kind of introduce all these characters into the story that haven’t been in the movie yet…Panther and Maw felt like, that’s not the story that we’re tracking, so maybe we reduce that stuff." Given how massive that final battle was - bringing nearly every costumed hero in the MCU together to take on Thanos and his army - it's arguably easy to see why this sequence was shortened. But nevertheless, the world of
Black Pantherand Wakanda definitely had an impact on
Endgame -- and especially on its predecessor,
Avengers: Infinity War.
“Listen, a year ahead of time, we had no idea ‘Wakanda Forever’ was going to be amazing,” co-writer Stephen McFeely said
during Infinity War's commentary track. “We tested this movie a few times, and when we got to this scene, most of the audiences, say in January and early February, went, ‘Oh this is an interesting place, I’ve never been here before.’ After mid-February, once
Black Pantherhad come out, this scene gets a huge cheer. It just rewards you investing in these characters. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but boy, I was really pleased.”
“It was a big conversation early on. I said, ‘We’re going to set a lot of the third act in Wakanda because if you’re going to go anywhere in the world to protect a McGuffin from an evil alien, it’s going to be Wakanda,’” co-director Joe Russo added.