Avengers: Endgame’s hilarious commentary on Captain America’s ass almost didn’t make it in the film. The Joe and Anthony Russo’s film started with a bleak and gloomy tone in light of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ defeat at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, but things eventually lightened up with the arrival of Scott Lang/Ant-Man, who proposed the idea of Time Heist. That meant that everyone became more optimistic about potentially bringing back all those who died via Thanos’ snap, including Steve Rogers, who arguably had one of the movie’s funniest lines.

With the Time Heist taking the Avengers and their allies to different points in MCU history to collect all six Infinity Stones before Thanos got his hands on them, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, and Ant-Man all went back to 2012’s Battle of New York. While waiting to snatch the Tesseract/Space Stone from their previous selves, Stark made a remark about Cap’s old uniform and how it didn’t do his physique any justice. Scott, who is a devoted fan of the super soldier, countered with a comment complimenting Steve Rogers’ backside - dubbing it “America’s ass.” The joke came around after the iconic 2023 Captain America vs  2012 Captain America fight where the former echoes Scott’s comments, making it all the funnier. However, the line wasn’t even supposed to be in the film, apparently.

During the Avengers: Endgame viewing party hosted by VUDU (via CBR) in light of the film’s release on digital, Marvel boss Kevin Feige revealed that the line about America’s ass was scrapped out of the film’s script. It wasn’t until executive producer Louis D’Esposito - or someone else on their team - asked about it that they decided to try it back on. Feige said:

Scott’s initial delivery of “that’s America’s ass” line in Avengers: Endgame felt out of place; however, his adoration for Captain America, coupled with his awkward sense of humor, justifies his rather embarrassing outburst. While Feige admits that even they weren’t sure if Captain America should follow up with his own self-serving remark, the fact that he doubled down on it makes it a lot funnier. It also subtly highlights his character growth since 2012, since there’s no way a more buttoned-up Steve Rogers would even entertain the idea of making a joke like that in the middle of a mission.

“We’re like, ‘Is it funny? I don’t know, let’s try it in the next test screening,’ because we screen all of our movies multiple times for audiences. And it killed, it killed instantly, without question. And it stayed in the movie, and later in the movie it a got a reprise in some additional photography where Cap himself comments on his own ass. We questioned, let’s be honest, we questioned, ‘Is it in character? Is it in the character of Steve Rogers to make a comment on his own ass?’ And the thought was, yes, it works, and the audience likes it.”

In the last several weeks, the public has learned more and more information regarding the creative process of making Avengers: Endgame. And if there’s any main takeaway from all of it, including this new detail, it’s that it took Marvel Studios, the directors, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely numerous script changes to be able to arrive at the theatrical version that fans saw. There were some other ideas such, as the alternate resurrection scene for Avengers: Infinity War’s dead heroes, and some make fans question why they ultimately decided against them, like a few of Avengers: Endgame’s deleted scenes.

More: Every Reveal From The Avengers: Endgame Commentary

Source: VUDU (via: CBR)

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