Production of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are American superhero films based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. They are the sequels to The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and respectively serve as the 19th and 22nd films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Both films were directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from screenplays by the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They feature an ensemble cast composed of many previous MCU actors, headlined by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In Infinity War, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy fail to prevent Thanos from collecting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones and he uses them to kill half of all life in the universe. In Endgame, the surviving Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse Thanos's actions.

Preparation for a film adaptation of Jim Starlin's 1991 The Infinity Gauntlet comic book began with Marvel Studios' early films, which introduced the Infinity Stones as plot devices and teased a future storyline with Thanos as the villain. Downey Jr. signed on in June 2013 to reprise his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Brolin was cast as Thanos the next May, and many other actors were confirmed to be appearing in the following years. The films were officially announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 and Part 2. The Russo brothers and Markus and McFeely joined the project in early 2015. The first film's title was shortened to Avengers: Infinity War in July 2016. The second film's title was withheld until December 2018, when it was announced as Avengers: Endgame. The films were renamed because they were intended to tell two different stories. They were designed to conclude the "Infinity Saga" storyline that had been told throughout all MCU films up to that point and end the character arcs of Stark and Steve Rogers / Captain America (Evans).

Both films were shot back-to-back at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia. Production on Infinity War took place from January 23 to July 14, 2017, with additional filming in Scotland, the Downtown Atlanta area, and New York City. Filming for Endgame took place from August 10 to January 11, 2018, with additional filming in the Downtown and Metro Atlanta areas, the state of New York, Scotland, and England. Final reshoots for Endgame were held in January 2019. The films were the first Hollywood productions to be shot entirely in digital IMAX, using a new camera developed with Arri. Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt edited both films, and Alan Silvestri returned from The Avengers to compose the musical score. Visual effects companies for both films included Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Weta Digital, DNEG, Cinesite, Digital Domain, Rise, Lola VFX, and Perception. Prominent visual effects include the digital characters Thanos and Hulk (Ruffalo) using new performance capture technology, and multiple digital de-aging sequences.

Avengers: Infinity War was released on April 27, 2018, and Avengers: Endgame was released on April 26, 2019, both part of Phase Three of the MCU.