We take a look at the story techniques used in Avengers: Infinity War and turn them into lessons for aspiring screenwriters.
Last week, the highly anticipated Avengers: Infinity War was unleashed to audiences. In its initial weekend opening, the film—unsurprisingly—shattered multiple box office records. Ten years ago, with the release of Iron Man (2009), no one could’ve predicted the cultural impact the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have on the world zeitgeist. However, the films in the MCU are now guaranteed money-makers with the added benefit of also being lauded by critics.
Though the comics of which these films draw upon are part of American pop culture, the MCU’s successes have everything to do with the filmmakers’ sophisticated sense of story. And Avengers: Infinity War is no exception. In order to fully understand and appreciate this film’s intricate workings, Fantinuum (formerly known as The Fanboy Review) discusses Avengers: Infinity War‘s screenplay (written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) with Hollywood screenwriting instructor Dan Calvisi of Act Four Screenplays. Using Dan’s Story Maps method as a guide, we hope our discussion can help aspiring screenwriters develop their skills in creating a compelling story with engaging characters.
WARNING: Potential spoilers in our discussion
Unity of Theme: Sacrifice
Throughout Avengers: Infinity War, characters were posed with difficult choices—things that were life-and-death situations. The heaviness of these choices stemmed from the adage of “for the greater good.” No matter the action, scene, or location, the screenwriters emphasized this theme. The choices each individual character made, emphasized who they were and what they were willing to do.
Peter—though it was an amazingly heart-wrenching and difficult decision—eventually followed through in shooting Gamora when they were on Knowhere. Wanda—again no easy choice—agreed to help Vision destroy the Mind Stone, thereby killing him. These are just a few examples. There were countless others in the film.
Because most of the characters made these types of choices—towards those they loved and cared about—Doctor Strange’s eventual decision to give up the Time Stone (also known as the Eye of Agamotto) was all the more interesting. First, he specifically stated he would choose to protect the Time Stone no matter what. Second, when he did make a choice, he chose to save Tony—someone he just met, very unlike the decisions the other heroes made. The other heroes still chose the path of greater good even though their loved ones’ lives were at stake.
Themes need to be consistently repeated through character actions. Remember, it’s your job as a screenwriter to make this clear to the audience. A clear theme makes the overall story that much more compelling.
Destroy Your Hero and Rebuild Him
We all know audiences love rooting for underdog heroes. But what if one of your main protagonists is a god? That doesn’t sound very helpless and sympathetic. A technique is to tear down your hero and bring him to his lowest point. From the start, Thanos “destroys” Thor in various ways: physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Thanos beats and tortures Thor to an inch of his life. The Mad Titan also toys with the Hulk and almost kills the Jade Giant had Heimdall not saved Hulk.
And speaking of Heimdall, both him and Loki—Thor’s best friend and adoptive brother, respectively—are murdered right in front of Thor. This is how the audience can sympathize, as well as empathize with a god.
As the film progresses, we see Thor actively pursuing vengeance for Thanos’s heinous acts. The God of Thunder must convince new heroes he meets (the Guardians of the Galaxy) to go along with his plan of acquiring a weapon powerful enough to kill Thanos. Eventually, after some effort and pushback, he convinces barely half the team (Rocket and Groot) to go with him on his quest. When he finally reaches Nidavellir, he’s met with another obstacle—the forge is frozen and the star that powers it is inactive.
Though Thor successfully restarts the machine, his exposing himself to the star almost kills him. When Thor triumphantly arrives in Wakanda and saves his friends, it’s a well-deserved return. It’s both a sigh of relief and a very reinvigorating scene. It prepares audiences to go into Act Three fresh and optimistic.
Unity of Action/Goals
When dealing with a story as complex and as daunting as Avengers: Infinity War, it’s important to have a unity of action and goals. This allows the audience to clearly follow your story. In the film, we have a clear goal for the heroes—stop Thanos from getting the Infinity Stones. And a clear opposite goal for the villain—get the Infinity Stones and bring about destruction. All of their internal goals tie back to the theme—that is, decide if they can make sacrifices in trying to attain the external goal.
It’s extremely difficult to write a story without simple goals that have a clear throughline. Avengers: Infinity War has a cast of 75 characters. If even a small group of these characters had separate goals, the story would’ve become confusing and discombobulated.
The “one clear goal” idea should also not be confused with story engines. Story engines are a technique used by screenwriters to make it seem like characters have different goals. Thor is a prime example. In the first two acts, his goal seemed to be that of creating Stormbreaker. However, he kept reiterating his vow of revenge against Thanos. And his ultimate goal was defeating Thanos and securing the Infinity Stones. Thor’s actions are but one of the many story engines that power the main goal. In the end, all story engines will explicitly converge on the main goal.
Complex Villain
Thanos is complex. There’s no doubt about that. His backstory involves him watching his own planet and race die from overpopulation and suffering. His belief that his genocidal goals will save the universe makes him a very compelling villain. Why is this important? It’s the often repeated concept of “a great villain makes a great hero”—or in this case, “great heroes.”
Thanos also truly believes in this goal. He’s adamant on it and sees himself as the protagonist. Because of this, the audience builds a sort of empathy for this character. Once you have your audience buy in to the villain’s goals, it makes the story all the more interesting.
Great Introductions and Resurrections
In an ensemble film, you have to have interesting and surprising ways of introducing your characters to the audience. This makes the characters memorable. And resurrections aren’t just relegated to characters who were once thought dead. Resurrections fall into the concept of rebuilding a character and bringing them back into the game. Thor arriving in Wakanda with the newly minted Stormbreaker is something that comes to mind.
Examples of great introductions are the Hulk attacking Thanos right at the start of the film, and the Guardians of the Galaxy singing in the Milano as they venture through the vastness of space. These types of “debuts” (we note that in quotes because they’ve already had their solo movies where they were truly introduced) help to reemphasize who the characters are. It helps the audience to quickly understand the various types of personalities: Hulk is quick to action; the Guardians of the Galaxy are a fun-loving group.
We may think that superhero action movies with a history are the only ones that can have these types of introductions. Not so. Any character can be introduced in a memorable, interesting way. Remember to introduce characters doing something they’re good at—something that’s unique to them and how they react to the story’s world.
Manage Your Arcs
We all know characters must change throughout our stories. The character we start out with should be transformed when we see the words “FADE OUT.” With a film like Avengers: Infinity War, these arcs must be managed. Each character in this ensemble must have an arc and their change should be apparent by the end of the film. Now, this is where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a very unique position as opposed to other films.
The MCU is completely interconnected. Each of the previous 18 films that came before Avengers: Infinity War can be seen as a prerequisite. At the same time, Avengers: Infinity War is still written in a standalone fashion. What happens is that each character—who has had his or her individual respective arcs in their solo movies—get another chance for change. Therefore, Avengers: Infinity War can be seen as a capstone for what has come before it.
However, as established as this universe is, character arcs need to be successfully managed and executed. It’s the individual transforming characters that help drive a compelling story and deliver the overall theme.
The Raw Ingredients: Escalating Conflict, Active Protagonist(s), Singular Goal
No matter what your movie and film tastes are, there are three tenets of screenwriting that will always hold true for interesting stories: escalating conflict, active protagonists, and a singular goal (especially one that’s difficult to attain). These essential elements transcend genre and structure.
In Avengers: Infinity War, the conflict starts off big, but it gets even bigger. There are small battles with Thanos and his minions. However, as the film progresses, the battles become larger and the stakes get higher. Always keep this mind. Build on the conflict to engage the audience.
Active protagonists can be seen throughout Avengers: Infinity War. Thor’s drive to exact revenge on Thanos. Peter disobeying Tony’s orders and following him onto Thanos’s ship. Gamora and Drax breaking away from Peter’s plan in order to carry out their own revenge goals. And Peter searching for Gamora. These examples are just a fraction of what we see in terms of active protagonists. Always have your characters drive the story. Do not let them be bystanders or people who are just “along for the ride.”
Again, a singular goal is tantamount for the story. In Avengers: Infinity War, as we’ve emphasized, it’s to secure the Infinity Stones and stop Thanos from killing half the population in the universe. This goal is also difficult which engages the audience. We want the audience invested in whatever our heroes are going after, and a singular goal keeps that in sight.
Wrap-Up
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “super-franchise” has enjoyed unprecedented successes due to not only fascinating characters, but carefully crafted stories. And Avengers: Infinity War may be the most well-crafted of them all. With a daunting cast of characters and multiple locations, the screenwriters managed to create a clear engaging script that drew in audiences. After all, box office numbers can’t lie.
More Movies: Avengers: Infinity War Review
With a running time of 2 hours 36 minutes, it’s also the longest film in the series. Conflicts, character arcs, goals, unity of theme, and a complex villain all contributed to this long film seeming shorter than it actually was. It’s a testament of fine screenwriting that such an epic film (both in scale and narrative challenges) can be delivered to audiences in such a clear and compelling manner.
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